ISLAMABAD, Jan 29, Reuter: Pakistan said on Sunday, it would seek to reassure the United States that its controversial nuclear programme was peaceful.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman, quoted by the official APP News Agency, said: “Pakistan never tried to manufacture a nuclear bomb, nor would it ever do so in the future.”
The statement followed a Washington Post report on Saturday which said U.S. aid to Pakistan might be cut off because Washington was unlikely to be able to certify that Pakistan did not possess a nuclear bomb.
Islamabad denies having or trying to make the bomb.
Without such certification, required annually by law, Pakistan will not be eligible to receive U.S. Economic and Military aid beyond the financial year ending on September 30.
The Washington Post, quoting congressional and administration sources, said former President Ronald Reagan’s administration told Congress such certification was unlikely this year.
The Pakistani spokesman said Islamabad would impress upon the new administration of President Bush that it was using nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes.
The U.S. government budget for the 1990 financial year, starting next October I, includes a request for 621 million dollars in aid to Pakistan, part of a 4.02 billion dollar six year package signed in 1987.
Reagan certified to Congress last November that Pakistan did not possess a nuclear device.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 3, 1989
