New Delhi, November 22
Unveiling Pakistan’s nuclear doctrine under a democratic government, President Asif Ali Zardari today declared that Islamabad would pursue a policy of ‘no-first use’ of nuclear weapons and went a step further by proposing a south Asia non-nuclear treaty.
Addressing the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit through video conferencing from Islamabad, Zardari sought to make all the right noises to please the Indian leadership and presented a picture of healthy relationship between India and Pakistan in the years to come.
“I don’t feel threatened by India and India should not feel threatened by us,” Zardari said. Pakistan, he stated, was for enhancing trade and economic ties with India.
“If you can trade with China, why not with Pakistan.” He also sought New Delhi’s assistance to get loan from the IMF to tide over the grim economic situation.
When a questioner asked him if he could commit that Pakistan would not be the first to user of a nuclear weapon, he promptly replied: “Most definitely. I am against nuclear warfare altogether. We hope we will never get into that position (of using nuclear weapons). I am for a South Asian non-nuclear treaty and can get my Parliament to agree to it right away. Can you (India) get your Parliament to agree to it?”
When a journalist pointed out to him that two phases of the Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir have been by and large peaceful and witnessed impressive turnouts due to Pakistan’s “hands off” policy and asked the Pakistan President if Islamabad would stick to the same policy during the remaining phases of voting in the state, Zardari replied: “I can assure you that our government has had a ‘hands off’ policy for a long time and that will continue.”
Zardari also favoured the opening of the India-Pakistan border for trade. He was of the view that even for citizens of Pakistan, there was no need for a strict visa regime to enter each other’s country. The two countries could work out a special card for their people to cross the border without any hitch.
Disagreeing with a questioner that Pakistan, particularly its ISI, was promoting terrorism in India, he said Pakistan itself was a victim of the menace and lost one of its great leaders (Benazir) in the scourge.
