Pakistan says Indian deal will hit arms treaty

Pakistan on Thursday night said that a civil nuclear deal between the US and India would bring about the collapse of international agreements to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

Khurshid Kasuri, Pakistan’s foreign minister, said in an interview with the Financial Times: “The whole Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty will unravel. It’s only a matter of time before other countries will act in the same way.”

He added: “Nuclear weapons are the currency of power and many countries would like to use it. Once this goes through the NPT will be finished. It’s not just Iran and North Korea. Brazil, Argentina and Pakistan will all think differently.”

The March 2 deal between President George W. Bush and Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, promises to end more than three decades of isolation for the Indian nuclear programme, in spite of New Delhi’s refusal to sign the NPT.

The US has refused to extend the same co-operation to Pakistan, with Mr Bush saying this month that the two countries have “different needs and different histories”. Pakistan has not signed the NPT.

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