Prez asks Rice for N-deal similar to India

The Pakistan President told the US Secy of State that such a pact was essential to maintain a strategic balance in South Asia.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has urged visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to consider inking a civilian nuclear deal with Islamabad similar to the one signed with New Delhi during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the United States in July 2005.

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Emphasising that such a pact was essential to maintain a strategic balance in South Asia, Musharraf told Rice in a Tuesday evening meeting that Pakistan requires such technology to fulfil its growing energy needs.

According to The Nation, Musharraf also reiterated Islamabad's commitment to continue the ongoing war against terrorism, but cited the repeated violations by allied forces in Afghanistan as a source of growing concern.

The two leaders also discussed other issues of mutual interest such as the political situations of Afghanistan, Iraq, the Middle East, Pakistan-America defence and economic treaties, regional situations and ongoing peace process between Pakistan and India.