U.S. Denies Talks With Pakistan on Nuclear Security
Bush administration officials have denied claims that the United
States has recently held discussions with Pakistan on the security
of its nuclear weapons and facilities.
Reports of U.S.-Pakistani nuclear security talks surfaced September
30 in The New York Times, which cited two Pakistani officials
as saying that U.S. military and intelligence officials had spoken
with the Pakistani government about the security of its nuclear
weapons and two nuclear power reactors.
The two officials also said that Deputy Secretary of State Richard
Armitage had “discussed nuclear safeguards” with Pakistani
officials in Washington shortly after the September 11 terrorist
attacks on the United States. Such safeguards could involve a range
of options, from offering safety and security training for personnel
to helping to protect nuclear facilities physically.
In recent weeks, analysts have expressed concern that political
instability in Pakistan resulting from Islamabad’s cooperation
with the U.S. campaign against terrorism could result in the Pakistani
government losing control over its nuclear weapons or facilities.
Since Pakistan conducted nuclear weapons tests in May 1998, Washington
has held talks with Islamabad on a variety of nuclear issues, including
the security of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. During an interview
October 10, a South Asian diplomat said that those talks have continued
since September 11 and that there is a strong likelihood of such
talks taking place again.
However, an administration official bluntly refuted these assertions
in an interview that same day, saying that, although Washington
has conducted broad nuclear-related talks with Islamabad since the
1998 tests, the administration has “not had discussions”
with Pakistan on nuclear security since September 11. A State Department
official also asserted that no such discussions have occurred.
According to another U.S. official, domestic and international
legal constraints could limit the type of nuclear assistance Washington
could provide to Pakistan. On this matter, the administration official
said that the Bush administration is “mindful” of its
“legal obligations under the Atomic Energy Act and the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty.”
The Atomic Energy Act restricts how the United States can cooperate
with other countries on nuclear-related matters, and the Non-Proliferation
Treaty restricts nuclear-weapon states, such as the United States,
from assisting non-nuclear-weapon states, such as Pakistan, with
their “control over such weapons.”
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher downplayed any concern
over the security of Islamabad’s nuclear infrastructure during
an October 29 briefing. The United States believes that Pakistan
“is well aware of the importance of securing any nuclear material,
components, and weapons that it has,” he said. “We are
confident that Pakistan is taking steps to assure the safety of
those assets.”
During a September 30 interview with CNN, Pakistani President Pervez
Musharraf also expressed confidence in the security of his country’s
nuclear weapons. “I am very, very sure that the command and
control setup that we have evolved for ourselves is very, very secure,”
he said, adding, “There is no chance of these assets falling
into the hands of extremists.”
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