Pakistan in spotlight as US nuclear summit opens today

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

* Islamabad to confront its reputation as a proliferator head on
* No plans for Gilani-Singh meeting but ‘brief encounter’ possible

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will confront its reputation as a proliferator head on this week when Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani addresses a global summit in Washington aimed at keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists.

India and other critics could however undercut Pakistan by reminding the world of its nuclear smuggling, highlighting the Taliban insurgency and fanning fears of a

Muslim country in chaos where militants could seize atomic material.

“India will demand that restrictions be imposed on Pakistan’s nuclear programme,” said Shahidur Rehman, a Pakistani journalist and author of the “Long Road to Chagai”, a book on Pakistan’s nuclear programme.

“Their main stress will be on securing Pakistan’s nuclear assets by the world,” he told Reuters.

“Pakistan’s efforts will be to counter that and convince them that our National Command Authority, which oversees the country’s strategic assets, is very effective and that our nuclear assets are safe and secure,” he added.

There are no plans for Gilani and his Indian counterpart, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to meet, although the leaders of the nuclear-armed rivals may have a brief “encounter”.

“I do not see any possibility, whatsoever, of Pakistani material, or nuclear technology falling into the wrong hands,” Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said.

“India knows full well how secure Pakistan’s strategic assets are.” reuters