* FO spokesperson says book on N-trade in Pakistan ‘a pack of lies’
* Swedish govt has yet to apologise for blasphemous drawings
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will not enter an “arms race” in the region but will take steps to maintain a strong deterrence, Foreign Office Spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told a regular press briefing on Monday.
“We will take all steps required to keep a strong deterrence but we will not be part of an arms race,” Aslam said, answering a question on India’s bid to buy more than 100 fighter jets. “Our principle is to keep the defence strong and unassailable,” she said, adding Pakistan wanted to make Jammu and Kashmir a nuclear-free and demilitarised zone.
She said Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark’s book, ‘Deception: Pakistan, the US and Secret Trade in Nuclear Weapons’, was a “pack of lies” aimed at discrediting Pakistan’s nuclear programme. “Some people cannot digest our nuclear capability and are involved in negative propaganda but Pakistan is an anchor of peace and stability in the region,” she said, adding Pakistan’s nuclear assets were under a strong institutional framework.
She said the people who blamed Pakistan for nuclear proliferation should realise that Pakistan did not commit the “original sin” of bringing destructive weapons to the region. “Those biased against us are opposed to Pakistan’s nuclear status,” Aslam added.
She also condemned “blasphemous” sketches published in a Swedish newspaper. “It is not freedom of expression as freedom does not mean a licence to hurt others’ sentiments,” she said. Aslam said the Swedish government had merely expressed regret over the issue, which was not a “formal apology”.
She said a 50-member mini jirga, set up after the Pak-Afghan joint peace jirga, would decide whether to include the Taliban in the peace process. She also said “only the Taliban or South Korea” were aware of any ransom payment to secure the release of the South Korean hostages.
She said the fourth round of composite dialogue between India and Pakistan was nearing conclusion, as talks had already been held on the seven issues that comprised the agenda. “Soon the foreign secretaries and foreign ministers of the two countries will meet to formally wind up the fourth round of talks,” she said.
She said Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri would lead Pakistan in the UN General Assembly’s annual session. She rejected the impression that participation in the annual session by a minister instead of the head of state would leave a bad image for the country. She said Kasuri would represent the country in the UN because the PM and the president were busy with general elections.
APP adds: Commenting on remarks by a former US Central Intelligence Agency chief concerning Dr AQ Khan in Levy and Scott-Clark’s book, Aslam said if an individual is being condemned for contributing to Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence, then there are many people in many countries that are guilty of this crime.
She said Kashmir was not being discussed in the current round of talks between Pakistan and India. She also said that Pakistan was discussing the reinstallation of the Quaid’s vandalised monument in Toronto.
Aslam said Pakistan welcomed progress in talks between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying Pakistan had always emphasised the need for a diplomatic and negotiated settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue.
technorati tags:Pakistan
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