In a letter addressed to NSG chairman Rafael Grossi on 19 May, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Austria, Ayesha Riyaz, said the decision to seek membership in the group reflected Islamabad’s support for worldwide efforts aimed at preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
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Aziz maintained that Islamabad was ready for cordial relations with other countries including India.
Winding up a debate on an adjournment motion moved by Javed Abbasi of ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) over the recent Indian test fire of supersonic Interceptor missile, he made it clear that Pakistan’s efforts for peace must not be taken as a weakness.
Pakistan is also upset that President Barack Obama has backed India’s bid for membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
Pakistan Prime Minister’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said that peaceful neighbourhood was part of the government’s policy.
“Pakistan has serious concerns over these developments and will take all necessary measures to augment its defence capabilities”, he said.
Mr Babar was of the view that the civilian and political leadership must wake up and retrieve the space in formulating security policies already dangerously ceded to the security establishment. He added that on foreign policy and national security, the civilian side should have its due role.
On the diplomatic front, he said, Pakistan was planning to highlight at all relevant global fora “the unsafe implications of India’s plan to nuclearise the Indian Ocean”. Pakistan is supporting the Kashmiri people “morally and diplomatically” and will raise the issue with the UN General Assembly, Human Rights Council and also with permanent members of UN Security Council, he said.
The perpetually oscillating Pak-US relationship is once again at low as reflected by the Congressional restriction on financing of F-16 fighter jet’s sale from Foreign Military Financing programme, due to which Pakistan lost the opportunity to buy the jets, the paper said.
Mexico was among those countries, including China, that held the stand that a country seeking NSG membership should be a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
However, China is backing Pakistan.
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“The whole world agrees that India and Pakistan should have composite dialogue”.
