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US to renew demand for access to Dr Khan
WASHINGTON: The US plans to renew a demand for direct access to Dr A.Q. Khan as Washington tries to prevent China from building two new nuclear reactors at Chashma, says a senior American diplomat.
I intend to raise the question again of our repeated requests to have our people be able to interview Khan, Cameron Munter, the Obama administrations ambassador-designate for Pakistan, told his confirmation hearing on Thursday afternoon.
The US believes that Dr Khan ran a ring of nuclear proliferators and supplied nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
Diplomatic observers in Washington see Americas renewed interest in Dr Khan against the backdrop of Chinas plan to build new reactors in Pakistan.
But in his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Ambassador Munter acknowledged that it would be difficult to receive Pakistans permission to interrogate Dr Khan.
This is a key area where, to be honest, I dont think weve made a lot of progress with the Pakistanis, he said.
Meanwhile, US Ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer said earlier on Friday he believed the Pak-China nuclear deal might not get the approval of the 46-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group given Islamabads track record.
I am not sure it will happen in Pakistan, given their track record. This is a very important issue in respect to China, Ambassador Roemer told journalists in New Delhi.
One of the fundamental important issues for the US is not only Indias flawless track record and high-trust but also the US efforts to try to provide more inclusive growth to Indians, he said.
A high-ranking US official said earlier this week that the NSG should consider the Chinese plan to build two reactors in Pakistan while a State Department official told Dawn on Wednesday he believed the move violated Chinas commitment to the NSG.
Chinese officials argue that if US companies can sell reactors to India then China should also be allowed to fulfil its agreement with Pakistan, The Financial Times reported on Friday.
Both India and Pakistan have not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Not only has the US-India deal weakened Washingtons hand in opposing the Chinese sale to Pakistan, but the Obama administration would also not want a tough argument with Beijing to lead China to pull out of the NSG, the Financial Times observed.
Experts say that China could export smaller 300MW reactors using technology that it currently controls. But if it wanted to sell Pakistan 600MW or 1GW reactors, it would need the consent of western companies that have licensed it key technologies.
At the Senate hearing, Senator Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican member of the committee and one of the authors of the $7.5 billion Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill for Pakistan, urged Ambassador Munter to renew US efforts to seek access to Dr Khan.
My understanding is that he is free of house arrest now, still considered in heroic status in Pakistan, the senator said.
Weve from time to time lamented the work of A.Q. Khan and his work with others, for that matter, to spread the technology of nuclear weapons and potential for difficulty in a host of countries, the senator said.
A very large part of the relationship that the United States has with Pakistan ... frequently comes down to non-proliferation, at least the inventory and control of weapons of mass destruction, Mr Lugar said while questioning Ambassador Munter.
The question of Pakistans control over its nuclear inventory, he said, was important because of the potential for this to create, not only violence for specific countries involved, but a spreading of this for others who wish defences and wish to have a more international regulation.
This is a question which is entirely speculative for the future, but one which I suspect that youre prepared to attempt to work with the Pakistani government as all of the rest of the world comes to conferences such as we had in Washington this time on non-proliferation, Mr Lugar said.
DAWN.COM | Front Page | US to renew demand for access to Dr Khan