On-Proliferation Pakistan, Pakistan has effective command and control system in place: Ambassador Qazi

WASHINGTON, Jun 22 (APP)- Ambassador Ashraf Jehangir Qazi Monday evening emphatically said, the Command and Control system remained in place effectively, and there was no question of Pakistan's nuclear assets or materials falling into wrong hands.

He observed this while speaking at the session on Pakistan, at the Carnegie International Peace Conference on Non-proliferation. Michael Kreppon chaired the proceedings, while the panelists included David Albright and Hussein Haqqani.

Amb. Qazi drew attention of the participants to the various regulations in place to control export of sensitive technologies.

The Federal Cabinet, he stated had approved a proposal in this regard and a bill was already under consideration in the National Assembly.

Mr. Qazi highlighted Pakistan's point of view, countered biases and dispelled misperceptions about Pakistan's nuclear program.

The Pakistan Ambassador took issue with the title of the session saying it was not Pakistan Network, but A.Q. Khan International Network. He said everybody is aware that there was one individual and a number of companies from various countries were involved, including those from the West; therefore, the title was inaccurate.

David Albright also agreed that it was not correct description to describe it as Pakistan network.

"It was not the policy of the government of Pakistan but act of an individual, therefore, Pakistan could not be held responsible," Ambassador Qazi said highlighting that the pardon granted to A. Q. Khan was "conditional."

He said though Pakistan was not a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and was under no obligation of that treaty, still it was cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEA) voluntarily. As soon as evidence regrading A. Q. Khan was shared with Pakistan, it took swift action and started investigation, which was continuing.

Amb. Qazi said valuable information had been obtained from these investigations.

Michael Kreppon, of the Stimson Centre, who had testified before the recent Congressional hearings on proliferation, in his concluding remarks said, Pakistan's image had suffered due to A. Q. Khan controversy.

He noted that the Pakistan-India talks on nuclear confidence building measures "is a positive development." He also stressed that as members of the international community both Pakistan and India had obligations to meet for the future.

Mr. Albright's speech was on technical aspects of the activities of the network based on various reports appearing on the network and the role played by Dr. Khan, in this regard.

He agreed with the Ambassador that title of the segment of the conference was inaccurate as there were many individuals and countries involved, therefore, to call it Pakistan network is a distortion of facts.

Mr. Husain Haqqani, a Visiting Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC, dwelt on the political dimension of the network and quoted from President Pervez Musharraf's statements that Pakistan was forced to respond to India's threat and program and had to acquire the necessary means to safeguard its national interests. It gave Dr. Khan authority to help procure Pakistan's nuclear program. Mr. Haqqani, however, felt that Dr. Khan could not have done such activities alone.

Disagreeing, Ambassador Qazi said Pakistan had no interest in the spread of this technology around the world.

In the question-answer session, Ambassador Ashraf Qazi noted that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other foreign governments had appreciated Pakistan's cooperation in the case. The Ambassador also pointed out that the case related to investigations on Iran's nuclear program, and the IAEA itself had concluded that there was no confirmation of any Pakistani involvement in this regard.

The two-day Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Conference on International Non-Proliferation would continue Tuesday.

In the main Conference session, the welcome address was read out by Jessica Mathews, president, Carnegie Endowment,the moderator was Joseph Cirincione, while the main speakers included Mohamed Elbaradei, director general, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Hans Blix, nuclear threat investigator.