ISLAMABAD (Staff Report) – Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry has told a United States envoy that Pakistan has the “credentials” to join a the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a club of nations involved in trading nuclear materials and technology, signalling that Islamabad may apply alongside India and force a showdown in the consensus-based group next month.
According to a joint statement issued by Pakistan’s Foreign Office, Aizaz Chaudhry and Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller co-chaired the eighth round of the Pakistan-US Security, Strategic Stability, and Nonproliferation (SSS&NP) Working Group here on Tuesday.
The delegations enjoyed a productive exchange of views on issues of mutual importance, including strategic export control regimes, nonproliferation, and regional stability and security. They also built on the progress of the 7th Round of SSS&NP meeting held at Washington D.C. on 2nd June 2015.
“Pakistan expressed confidence in its credentials to become full member of the export control regimes, particularly the Nuclear Suppliers Group,” the Foreign Ministry’s official spokesman said in a tweet.
The US delegation recognized Pakistan’s significant efforts to harmonize its strategic trade controls with those of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and other multilateral export control regimes, it said.
Both sides agreed on the value of Pakistan’s continued engagement with and integration in the international non-proliferation regime. The Pakistan delegation expressed its confidence regarding Pakistan’s credentials to become full member of the export control regimes, particularly the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
Both sides also committed to continue cooperation related to export control capacity-building under the U.S. Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) program, the statement said.
