ISLAMABAD - Pakistan said on Thursday that it expected the United States to give Islamabad the same kind of civilian nuclear cooperation as it had just extended to arch rival India.In a pact agreed Thursday, the highlight of US President George W. Bush’s trip to India, Washington committed itself to seek approval from the US Congress and the Nuclear Suppliers Group to lift curbs on sharing nuclear technology with India. “We hope that we will also get the same kind of cooperation,” Pakistan foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told AFP.
| You mean the Chinese didn't care of you already? |
Last month Bush urged Pakistan to be patient with US nuclear cooperation with India but did not commit to -- or rule out -- a similar arrangement with Islamabad in the future. The United States regards Pakistan a frontline ally in its global war on terror and awarded it the status of a major non-NATO ally.
However Pakistan has been at the centre of international concerns over nuclear proliferation since its disgraced atomic scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan admitted in 2004 to leaking atomic secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya.
| Too bad Khan didn't work on nuclear power plants instead of nuclear weapons. |