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Pakistan offers to denuclearize
By Anwar Iqbal
UPI South Asian Affairs Analyst
From the International Desk
Published 5/5/2003 5:17 PM
View printer-friendly versionWASHINGTON, May 5 (UPI) — The U.S. State Department reacted cautiously Monday to a Pakistani offer to give up its nuclear weapons, if India did the same.
“It’s good to see them making this proposal, but a great deal of work needs to be done before this could be implemented, ” a State Department official said.
“There are steps that both countries are going to have to make a decision about, as they strive to improve bilateral relations,” he added.
Earlier on Monday, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan had told reporters in Islamabad that Pakistan was ready to “denuclearize” provided that India does the same. “But it will have to be mutual.”
The offer came amid renewed efforts for decreasing tensions between the two neighbors who declared themselves nuclear powers after detonating atomic devices in May 1998.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage leaves for South Asia on Monday for talks with Indian and Pakistani leaders less than a week after they agreed to restore full diplomatic and air links after 16 months.
The two nuclear neighbors have fought three wars since the end of British rule of the subcontinent in 1947. Two of those wars have been over the disputed Kashmir region.
India recalled its ambassador from Pakistan, and forced Pakistan to call back its envoy as well, after a militant attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001.
The relations, however, have shown signs of improvement since mid-April when Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee agreed to resume bilateral talks. Pakistan quickly agreed to restore full diplomatic ties and said it was willing to hold talks with India “at any place and any time, without any conditions.”
India’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to Islamabad’s latest offer to denuclearize but New Delhi has said before that its nuclear program is not driven by Pakistan alone.
Political analysts in Washington say that the United States is bringing intense diplomatic pressure on both India and Pakistan to further this latest rapprochement. But Washington also has warned them not to repeat the mistakes they made in the past “by moving too fast, too soon,” said a senior South Asian diplomat.
Referring to two failed summits between the Indian and Pakistani leaders during the last four years, the diplomat said this time the Americans are urging them to firm up their proposals for peace at lower levels before arranging another summit.
On Sunday, Pakistan Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali invited opposition leaders to discuss improving ties with India. He told a rally in the Northwest Frontier Province that he wanted a national consensus before making any commitment to India.
The improved atmosphere in the subcontinent even forced Pakistan’s religious alliance, Muttahida Majalis-e-Amal, to say that “war is in nobody’s interest.” MMA chief Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani told reporters in Islamabad that his alliance of Islamic parties would welcome talks with India. “But the dialogue should lead to the resolution of the 56-year-old Kashmir problem,” he added.
Islamic militants have been fighting for independence or merger with Pakistan for the past 14 years in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir.
India accuses Pakistan of aiding the rebellion, but Islamabad says it only provides diplomatic and moral support to the cause. :shock:
Seems to me this is just a ploy to make India look bad. India’s testing of nukes was primarily in response to China rather than Pakistan. Is China going to denuclearise too?
I would love if they all did, but what are the chances? None IMHO.
Let’s also not forget that the guy who invented teh Pakistani bomb is now a national hero.
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