New Delhi, December 5
India today conveyed to the USA its serious worries over the Pakistan-North Korea nuclear nexus and is understood to have told the visiting US Deputy National Security Adviser, Mr Stephen Hadley, that the US media itself had reported that Islamabad’s assistance to Pyongyang’s uranium enrichment programme continued until three months back.
Well-placed sources in the Atal Behari Vajpayee government told The Tribune tonight that Mr Hadley was told by the Indian leadership that the development posed serious concerns to Indian security and could endanger regional as well as global security.
Mr Hadley, who arrived here today from Pakistan, had talks with Defence Minister George Fernandes, Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary and National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra, deputy to Mr Mishra, Mr Satish Chandra and Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal.
Interestingly, Mr Brajesh Mishra left late tonight for the USA where he is scheduled to have substantive talks with US leaders, including his American counterpart Condoleeza Rice. The Pakistan-North Korea nuclear nexus is expected to come up in a big way in these talks.
Pakistan has been long suspected of harbouring ambitions of developing an “Islamic Bomb” for the Muslim Ummah. Its nuclear and missile programmes have been pursued unhindered even in adverse economic conditions largely due to liberal financial aid made available by Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia.
According to diplomatic sources, Pakistan’s involvement in North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme has been sidelined by the Bush administration as it has consistently maintained that “Pakistan has been a strong partner in the
global coalition in the war against terrorism.”
US administrations in the past two decades have turned a blind eye to Pakistan’s illegal procurement activities to further its nuclear and missile programmes. Sources said this time the Bush administration had chosen to bail out Pakistan, though this time it was involved with North Korea, President Bush’s one of the three “axis of evil” countries.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell had gone on record on October 18 saying he had spoken to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf who had given him a “400 per cent” assurance that there was no interchange taking place “now” of any kind between Pakistan and North Korea.
Interestingly, on the question of penalising Pakistan under the Symington Amendment of 1976, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher has stated that waiver would be employed with regard to any findings about Pakistan technology transfer to North Korea prior to the assurance given by Gen Musharraf.
