Pakistan warns against Indian nuclear testing

Aug 20, 2007, 15:07 GMT

Islamabad - Pakistan said Monday it will review its unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing if India resumes tests, and cited the threat of an arms race in South Asia if Australia goes ahead with plans to sell uranium to New Delhi.

'Resumption of nuclear tests by India would create a serious situation obliging Pakistan to review its position and take action appropriate and consistent with our supreme national interest,' Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam told a press briefing in Islamabad.

Despite also freezing nuclear weapons tests since 1998, India has refused to rule out a resumption as it prepares to implement a far-reaching pact with the United States on civilian nuclear power generation.

Aslam said the situation was a source of concern for Pakistan and the international community, especially when Indian nuclear capacity would be augmented by the agreement and ensuing greater access to technology and fissile material.

The deal reached between India and the United States in July after two years of negotiations would allow the US to trade fissile materials and technology with India, ending a three-decade ban.

It has to be approved by the US Congress and the international Nuclear Suppliers Group before it comes into force.

Meanwhile, Pakistan continued to adhere to its unilateral moratorium on testing and had also proposed to India a bilateral agreement on a test ban, she said.

Concerning a decision by Australia to sell uranium to India, the spokeswoman said, 'any development that can impinge on the strategic balance in South Asia is a matter of vital concern for us.'

Pakistan did not want a nuclear arms race in the region yet it was committed to 'maintaining a credible minimum deterrence' in order to preserve peace, she added.