On Aug. 12, Pakistan announced at a press briefing that it is "prepared to consider translating its unilateral moratorium [on nuclear testing] into a bilateral arrangement on non-testing with India."
This statement is a variation of Pakistan's views on a regional test moratorium. At the June CTBT Ministerial Meeting in Vienna, Pakistan's ambassador said:
Following the first nuclear test in 1974 in our neighbourhood, Pakistan made several proposals for keeping South Asia free of nuclear weapons and missiles including a proposal for a regional CTBT. None of these proposals met a favourable response.
On Aug. 16, the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs released an "elaboration" of their Aug. 12 proposal, noting:
The bilateral non-testing arrangement, if mutually agreed, could become binding immediately without waiting for the entry into force of the CTBT at the international level.
The Spokesperson explained that while the unilateral moratoriums declared by the two countries were voluntary, legally non-binding and could be withdrawn unilaterally, a bilateral arrangement will be mutually binding and difficult to withdraw from unilaterally.