He warned that assured uranium supplies could allow India to divert domestic reserves for military purposes
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan on Thursday reiterated its demand for verifiable assurances from Kabul that its territory would not be used for terrorist activities against Pakistan.
“Since such assurances have not been received, Pakistan will continue to follow its existing policy,” said Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi while addressing his weekly news briefing. He added that Islamabad reserved the right to respond in self-defense against cross-border attacks.
The spokesperson confirmed that two Pakistani nationals had lost their lives in the United Arab Emirates during the ongoing hostilities. Pakistan’s missions in the UAE, he said, had facilitated the repatriation of the deceased and were assisting the bereaved families.
He added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had activated its Crisis Management Unit operating round the clock, while Pakistan’s diplomatic missions across the region had established facilitation desks, helplines and registration portals to assist stranded Pakistani citizens with travel arrangements and consular support.
The spokesperson also expressed concern over a recent uranium supply agreement between Canada and India, saying the arrangement represented a selective exception in civil nuclear cooperation and could undermine the global non-proliferation regime.
He warned that assured uranium supplies could allow India to divert domestic reserves for military purposes, potentially accelerating the expansion of its nuclear arsenal and aggravating strategic imbalances in South Asia.
Reiterating Pakistan’s position, Andrabi said civil nuclear cooperation should be based on a non-discriminatory, criteria-based approach applicable to all states outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty framework.
