‘Sino-Pak nuclear deal not possible’
** US ambassador to India says 45-member NSG will not grant waiver to Islamabad
* Pakistani official says deal in progress*
NEW DELHI: A nuclear deal between China and Pakistan is not possible because the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group will not grant a waiver to Islamabad, Zee News quoted United States Ambassador to India David Mulford as saying.
Indian government sources also sounded confident that the Sino-Pak nuke deal was neither viable nor possible. Their conviction is based on Pakistan’s poor non-proliferation record and nuclear scientist AQ Khan’s reported complicity in it, which will virtually make it impossible for the deal to muster support at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) or the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The statements by the US and India came following reports of President Asif Ali Zardari’s proposed visit to China next week to negotiate a nuclear deal similar to the one between India and the US.
** On its way: “Pakistan is already in touch with China for the nuclear deal to meet its energy crisis, and the talks will start during Zardari’s visit,” an official concerned said on condition of anonymity. Zardari has already announced that his first foreign visit will be to China. The official said that under the proposed deal, China would supply nuclear material to Pakistan to meet its energy crisis. “This has nothing to do with the US-India deal, but that has certainly provided us a way out to meet our energy crisis,” he said. Pakistan and China have a long history of close co-operation, including in the nuclear sector. online **