Pakistan's position on Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) is clear and the nuclear deterrence is an indispensable part of its security, the Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said here on Monday.
"Our position on Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty is very clear," Aslam said when responding to a statement by Japanese Defense Minister who expressed her country's desire that Pakistan might join the NPT regime. She added that the nuclear deterrence was indispensable for Pakistan's security.
"The statement of the Japanese minister could only be regarded as Japan's desire in the context of its view of global non-proliferation," Aslam said at the weekly press briefing.
Pakistan offered to enter the NPT regime along with India after it conducted first nuclear tests in 1974 but did not receive the required response, Aslam said, adding that Pakistan had to demonstrate its nuclear capability to restore the strategic balance after India's 1998 nuclear tests.
"Since the nuclear weapons in these states is a reality, it is better for the credibility of this (NPT) regime that there should be some kind of accommodation," Aslam quoted Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency as saying.