E-Paper
Clear proliferation charges: France to Pak
The two countries are engaged in discussions on sale of the state-of-the-art Mirage-2000 combat jets.
Pakistan must clear itself of proliferation charges before it can hope to receive civilian nuclear technology from France, the country's envoy has said.
After a lapse of three decades, France and Pakistan engaged in discussions on cooperation in civilian nuclear technology at a multilateral interaction in Paris where representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were also present.
French envoy Pierre Charasse told The News his country was prepared to help Pakistan build nuclear power generation capacity but Islamabad must first clear its name on the nuclear proliferation front.
As the country's image improves, France's private sector will be prepared to cooperate with Pakistan to fulfil its increasing energy needs, The News on Saturday quoted Charasse as saying.
Scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who mentored Pakistan's atomic bomb project, had last year publicly confessed to proliferating nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea. President Pervez Musharraf "pardoned" him and has since resisted international pressure for Khan's interrogation by independent agencies.
The nuclear issue apart, "Pakistan must strive to improve its image abroad. If you watch the international media, the information pouring out from different parts of Pakistan, especially Karachi, is often regarding terrorism, violation and killings. It has been somewhat controlled now but still needs to be fully rectified," Charasse maintained.
According to him, French-Pakistan cooperation in the defence field was progressing satisfactorily.
The two countries are engaged in discussions on sale of the state-of-the-art Mirage-2000 combat jets. A third submarine for the Pakistan Navy would be completed under a transfer of technology agreement by the end of next year. The submarine has been fully built in Pakistan by local engineers under the supervision of French experts.
The submarine programme had hit a roadblock after a 2002 terror attack in Karachi killed a dozen French technicians but the situation has now gone back to normal, the envoy said.
