Pakistan to maintain full spectrum nuclear deterrence: FO

Statement comes in response to a Washington Post report claiming US and Pakistan are negotiating a civil nuclear deal

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s nuclear policy is shaped by evolving security dynamics of South Asia, obliging it to take all necessary measures to maintain a full spectrum deterrence capability, the Foreign Office has said.

The statement was issued in response to a report published in the The Washington Post claiming that the United States and Pakistan were in the process of negotiating a civil nuclear deal.

"As a responsible nuclear state, Pakistan remains actively engaged with the international community, including the United States, on nuclear stability and security issues," said the spokesperson.

Read: Pakistan likely to secure civil nuclear deal with US: report

“Pakistan seeks peace and strategic stability in South Asia as corner stone of its policy and considers conflict resolution as a means to achieve this end,” the statement read, adding the policy has been reiterated by Pakistan’s highest decision-making body, the National Command Authority (NCA), chaired by the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in its meeting on September 9, 2105.

“Pakistan has been asked to consider what are described as ‘brackets’,” the newspaper had quoted a source familiar with the talks between the two countries as saying.

The mentioned article also said that the negotiations between the US and Pakistan on the agreement would be slow and difficult due to the fact that Pakistan honours its nuclear programme and it is not yet clear if the country would eventually be willing to accept the limitations that would be required.