ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Foreign Office breaks silence over the reports of 5Pakistani nationals indictment in US over nukes exports charges.
The Foreign Office said on Friday Islamabad has thus far received noinformation about reported indictment of five individuals accused ofexporting US-origin items to some Pakistani entities without an exportlicence.
“We have seen reports about the indictment of 5 individuals alleged to haveexported items to some Pakistani entities on the US Department of CommerceEntity List,” spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said in a statement.
“We have received no official information from the US and are trying toascertain the facts. The identities of the individuals have not been sharedwith us. There has been no effort to verify any facts from us,” thestatement read.
There have been instances in the past when restrictions have been placed onPakistani entities on mere suspicion, the spokesperson said, adding in manycases “denials have been made based on ‘catch-all’ provisions for itemswhich were not even on any control lists and were intended for purelypeaceful uses and socio-economic development.”
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“Pakistan has genuine socio-economic development needs involvingutilization of equipment, items and technologies, some of which might alsobe dual-use technologies,” the statement said.
“In such cases, we ensure that we follow all end-use certificationrequirements and provide guarantees against any misuse or diversion. Ifthere are any additional requirements/guarantees required, we are alwayswilling to consider those.”
With regard to denial of technology to Pakistan, the FO said it findsreferences to “delicate regional balance as specifically objectionable andfrivolous considering the fact that one country in our region has beenprovided waivers and special status for access to sensitive technologies.”
