Pakistan refuses to sign NPT sans India

Islamabad, Aug 27: Pakistan today refused to sign the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT) without India doing the same. ''Pakistan has to restore strategic balance of power in the region and therefore it cannot sign Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT) without India,'' foreign ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told a press briefing here.

She said Islamabad was a very clear position on the issue and it had offered time and again to sign it with India, but never received a response from the other side.

She said, ''We had to demonstrate our nuclear capability in 1998 to restore balance of power and to respond to India's detonations.'' She said nuclear deterrence capability was integral part of Pakistan's security and therefore it could not compromise on it.

She said a statement by the Japanese Defence Minister during her recent visit to Islamabad asking it to sign NPT might be Tokyo's desire for non-proliferation regime but Pakistan was not bound by them.

''Pakistan supports the view point of the IAEA on this issue that NPT regime needs to accommodate ground realities,'' Ms. Aslam said.

UNI