Pak. evolves nuclear doctrine

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, MARCH 19. Pakistan has evolved a three-point ``nuclear doctrine'' and decided to take important world capitals into confidence on the contours of the document.

The Urdu daily, Jang, in a report today claimed that the Foreign Minister, Mr. Abdul Sattar, shared the contents of the doctrine with the Japanese leadership during his just concluded visit to Tokyo.

A moratorium on further tests, a commitment to keep its nuclear programme to ``middle level'' and a ban on export of weapons or technology are stated to be the three vital components of the doctrine. However, experts outside the Government are not convinced if it could strictly be called a `nuclear doctrine'.

Dr. Iqbal Pervez Cheema, president, Islamabad Policy Research Institute, told The Hindu that he did not find anything new in the doctrine. ``Right from the day Islamabad conducted the nuclear explosions in the wake of similar tests by India, Pakistan has been stressing on these points. If what the paper said is correct, I could at most say that the Government has formally codified what it has been saying all along.''

The head of the prestigious think tank said that Pakistan had all along maintained that it was forced to conduct nuclear tests in response to the Indian programme. Islamabad was also committed to a moratorium on further tests provided India did not provoke it by further tests.

Dr. Cheema said Pakistan had been at pains to explain to its all ``friends'' that it would neither export nuclear weapons or technology to other countries nor would it allow it to be used for illegal means.

Significantly, the daily, while reporting on the ``nuclear doctrine'', revealed that Mr. Sattar sought to impress upon his interlocutors in Japan on the need for immediate resumption of the suspended aid.

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Section  : International
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