Pak to attend global initiative to combat nuclear terrorism

Islamabad, June 9 (UNI) Pakistan will attend a two-day meeting of the Global Initiative to Combat Terrorism beginning in Kazakhstan from June 11.

The Global Initiative to combat nuclear terrorism was jointly announced by the US and Russian Presidents at the July 2006 G8 Summit in St Petersburg.

It aimed at developing international cooperation to combat nuclear terrorism, foreign ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said here this evening.

The Global Initiative applied to civilian nuclear facilities and activities. The military nuclear facilities and activities of the nuclear weapon States party to the NPT were not covered by it. While joining the initiative, Pakistan had declared that it did not cover the country's military nuclear facilities or activities, Ms Aslam said, adding that with this understanding, the sponsors of the Initiative have welcomed Pakistan's participation.

She stressed that as a responsible nuclear weapon state, Pakistan had put in place legislative, regulatory and administrative infrastructure to prevent and combat any possible acts of terrorism involving nuclear and radiological materials and facilities. The Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority(PNRA) was implementing a national Nuclear Security Action Plan (NSAP) with the assistance of the IAEA, she added.

The NSAP aimed at strengthening the security of nuclear and radioactive materials and facilities containing such materials, prevention and detection of illicit trafficking in nuclear and radioactive material and responding to the incidents of illicit trafficking and emergencies.

The spokesperson said the main elements of the Global Initiative were in line with this action plan.

Pakistan, came under tremendous international pressure four years ago after revelations about involvement of its scientists in proliferating nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea, put in place stringent export control measures.

''These controls are in line with the standards followed by the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) and Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and Australia Group,'' Ms Aslam said.

UNI