Islamabad: As the grounds are paved for India's elevation to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Pakistan has said that the outcome of the upcoming meeting of the 48-nation elite group in Seoul “will be failure of Islamabad’s foreign diplomacy”.
"This is our diplomatic failure. The Indians are encircling us from all sides. Even our immediate neighbours, like Afghanistan and Iran, have gone to India. It's a result of our failed diplomacy and traditionally passive foreign policy," Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed of opposition Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam (PMLQ) said yesterday.
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Senator Farhatullah Babar blamed flawed security policies for the foreign policy debacle.
"Isn't it a reality that we protected non-state actors to further our security agenda? Our age-old policy of harbouring non-state actors is taking toll on us," he said.
India yesterday brightened its chances of joining the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a body that controls global nuclear trade. Yesterday only, the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), a key anti-proliferation grouping, agreed to admit India with officials saying the New Delhi’s candidature was not opposed by any of the 34 countries in the MTCR.
Now all eyes are on India’s bid to join the NSG. The preliminary discussions on India’s application will begin in Vienna from June 9.
Pakistan concerned over India's interceptor missile test
Pakistani lawmakers also expressed serious concern over India's recent development of an anti-ballistic missile system, saying that it may give India a false sense of security, leading to unexpected complications which are contrary to its policy of a friendly neighbourhood.
Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif’s adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said that massive conventional nuclear and missile development programmes pursued by India are now leading to nuclearisation of the Indian Ocean.
"The development of an anti-ballistic missile system (ABM) may give India a false sense of security, leading to unexpected complications. Such actions are also contrary to the policy of a peaceful and friendly neighbourhood, which our prime minister (Nawaz Sharif) has repeatedly espoused," Aziz told the Senate yesterday.
"Pakistan has serious concerns over these developments and will take all necessary measures to augment its defence capabilities," Aziz added.
India had successfully test-fired indigenously developed supersonic interceptor missile, capable of destroying any incoming ballistic missile, from a test range off Odisha coast on May 15.
"The balance of power has been disturbed in South Asia the way it was disturbed following India's nuclear tests in 1998. I'm not aware of our military's response, but I suggest that the security establishment take note of the Indian interceptor missile test and devise a strategy accordingly," Senator Javed Abbasi of ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said.
