Pakistan vows to maintain nuclear deterrent

ISLAMABAD, Apr 12 (Reuters) Pakistan, worried about a nuclear cooperation deal between rival India and the United States, said today it will maintain a credible nuclear deterrent for its security.

U.S. President George W. Bush during a trip to south Asia last month agreed to give India nuclear fuel and technology for its civilian nuclear programme, but refused to cut a similar deal with Pakistan.

Pakistan's Nuclear Command Authority (NCA), the top body that controls the country's nuclear assets, criticised the U.S.-India deal and said it would help New Delhi expand its nuclear weapons programme.

''... the agreement would enable India to produce significant quantities of fissile material and nuclear weapons from un-safeguarded nuclear reactors,'' said a statement issued after a NCA meeting chaired by President Pervez Musharraf.

''The NCA expressed firm resolve that ... credible minimum deterrence requirements will be met.'' Under the deal, India has agreed to separate its civilian and military nuclear weapons programme, and open the civil reactors for international inspections. But critics say the deal will help India boost its weapons programme.

Pakistan said it too needed international cooperation to meet its energy needs, including nuclear power.

''Pakistan is determined to pursue this legitimate requirement,'' the statement said.

Pakistan is a key ally of the United States in the global war on terrorism but remains under a cloud due to the role played by its top scientist in a nuclear black market scandal.

The disgraced scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, is under house arrest after he admitted two years ago that he sold nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran and North Korea.

But Pakistan has barred U.S. investigators from questioning the man revered as father of country's nuclear bomb.

REUTERS SRS HS2134