U.S. Worried About China-Pakistan Nuclear

United States (U.S.) has submitted to Islamabad’s concerns over China’s sale of nuclear reactors to Pakistan, said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a press conference on Monday (7/19/2010).

Washington has asked for clarification regarding the agreement in Beijing to build two 650 megawatt reactors in the province of the new Punjab, Pakistan, saying that the agreement must be approved by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). “We believe that the NSG, which have recently met to examine the sales that you refer to it, has filed a series of questions should be answered because as part of large transactions involving nuclear state, there are concerns of the international community, Pakistan know that,” said Hillary .

“We have submitted it (his concerns), another member of the NSG has submitted it, and we look forward answers to these questions,” he told reporters in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

The agreement was unveiled by the British press last April, and came after China’s entry in the NSG in 2004, groups of countries prohibited from exporting nuclear energy to countries that lack the protection of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In 2008 the U.S. signed an important nuclear agreement with Pakistan’s old enemy, India, and some observers believe it has laid the foundations for Pakistan’s agreement with China. Pakistan has been pressing the U.S. to sign nuclear agreement is the same as with India.

Hillary Clinton, Monday, represents, intensive discussions have been initiated to investigate the (possible) civilian nuclear agreement with Pakistan, but outlines the issues discussed included the careful supervision over the export of nuclear information and material.

Father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, Abdel Qader Khan, admitted in 2004 had sent nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya, and North Korea even though he later retracted his statement. “Export Control and the problem with Mr AQ Khan has added to fears of people around the world and not just in the U.S. because we can track the export of nuclear information and material from Pakistan through all kinds of channels to many different countries. That’s the problem,” said Hillary.