He warned that secure 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 no such assurances have been received, Pakistan will continue to follow its existing policy,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said while addressing his weekly news briefing. He added that Islamabad reserves the right to respond in self-defense against cross-border attacks.
The spokesman 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 helped the bereaved families.
He added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had activated its 24-hour crisis management unit, while Pakistan’s diplomatic missions across the region had set up facilitation desks, helplines and registration portals to assist stranded Pakistani citizens with travel arrangements and consular support.
The spokesman 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 secure uranium supplies could allow India to divert domestic reserves for military purposes, potentially accelerating the expansion of its nuclear arsenal and exacerbating strategic imbalances in South Asia.
Echoing Pakistan’s position, Andrabi said civil nuclear cooperation should be based on a non-discriminatory, criteria-based approach applicable to all states outside the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
