Pak Receives No Assurance from US on Nuke-deal

Pakistan has failed to receive a patent assurance from America on obtaining a civilian nuke deal, which it had been attempting to seek from Washington in its first strategic dialogue that began on Wednesday, said media reports.

At the conclusion of two-day high level strategic dialogue, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton only said that the issues raised by the Pakistani delegation, including nuke deal, would be looked into, reports said.

“We have a broad agenda, with many complicated issues, like the one you referred to. Discussions are continuing through tomorrow. While I will not go into details of our bilateral conversation, we’ve said that we will listen to and engage with our Pakistani partners on whatever issues the delegation raises. We’re committed to helping Pakistan meet its real energy needs,” she was quoted as saying.

Clinton made the remarks in a joint press conference with her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi while responding to a query of a journalist if the US was ready to discuss a civilian nuclear deal with Pakistan.

“I was pleased to inform the Foreign Minister (Qureshi) that our goal is a multi-year security assistance package, including foreign military financing, based upon identified mutual strategic objectives, which would further strengthen our long-term partnership with Pakistan,” she was quoted as saying.

“We of course will work closely with Congress to further develop this commitment,” she was quoted as saying.

Clinton said that the delegations from the two countries also took up for discussion the significance of working on a multi-year basis with regard to resource planning, reports said.

Earlier, Qureshi made a pitch for the civilian nuclear deal by seeking ‘non-discriminatory access to vital energy resources’ as Pakistan struggles to overcome massive power cuts.

Clinton said that she was working together to ensure that Pakistanis had access to affordable and reliable power, which was essential to funding economic development.

(Based on internet reports)