Disputes over Pakistan’s Nuclear-Arsenal Yet to Be Settled between Islamabad and Washington
Thursday, March 3rd, 2016 3:16:20 by modousarr
Secretary of State John Kerry, Pakistan Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz, among others, partook in the US-Pakistan Tactical Discussion conference at the State Department in Washington.
The two countries are still in dialogue about the contents of a combined statement that was to be issued after the sixth meeting of their strategic discussions on Monday.
Both countries are unwilling to discuss the reasons behind their differences which led to delays in the issuing of the joint statement. However, their opening remarks on Monday did offer some clues perhaps.
US Secretary of State John Kerry stressed that “Pakistan needed to decrease its nuclear arsenal and “process that reality (of reduction) and put that front and center in its policy.”
Sartaj Aziz, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs called for the United States to display a “greater understanding of Pakistan’s security concerns and its desire to contribute actively as a mainstream nuclear power.”
Both parties plainly highlighted their main disagreements regarding the subject of nuclear weapons. Pakistan maintains that its nuclear program is solely intended protect themselves from any threat from India and that it will not agree to any requirement that they do so which does not involve India reciprocating the same, a concern the US Secretary of State did not address directly.
Pakistani officials insisted that the United States should comprehend their position and their need to effectively protect themselves from India, if need be. They also expressed their aspiration to be considered as a fully fledged nuclear power, which Washington is yet to allow.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, applauded Pakistan’s devotion to take action against all terrorist groups and also identified terrorist groups such as the Haqqani Network and Lashkar-i-Tayyaba that the US would like Pakistan to pursue.
The prime minister’s adviser grieve over the “tendency to blame Pakistan in a simplistic fashion” for all the problems in Afghanistan. He also denied the accusation that Pakistan was “pursuing a duplicitous policy.”
To this point, it is not entirely certain exactly which of these matters was the cause of the deferred united declaration. Nonetheless, it was evident that the joint statement was delayed and it was delivered immediately after the meeting.
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