ISLAMABAD – Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal has said that“Being one of the most affected countries due to the impact of climatechange, Pakistan plans to increase its nuclear power generation capacity to40,000 MW by 2050, as a clean and cost-effective alternative to fossilfuel.
Pakistan looks forward to expanding the scope of its internationalcollaboration in nuclear power generation for meeting the legitimatesocio-economic development needs of its people.”
He further said that Pakistan’s nuclear programme is only for defencepurposes.
Speaking on the 20th anniversary of nuclear tests, he said that Pakistanconducted nuclear tests in 1998 in response to the nuclear tests andaccompanying hostile posturing by its neighbour.
“These developments unfortunately put an end to the prospect for keepingSouth Asia free of nuclear weapons – an objective which Pakistan hadactively pursued,” he said. Notwithstanding these facts, Pakistan hasremained steadfast in its commitment to non-proliferation and global peaceand strategic stability, he said.
Dr Faisal said Pakistan had demonstrated utmost restraint andresponsibility in the stewardship of its nuclear capability since 1998. “Itis committed to the principle of Credible Minimum Deterrence and haspersistently sought deterrence stability in the region.”
He continued: “At the same time, Pakistan remains confident of its abilityto deny space for any misadventure against the backdrop of rapidlyexpanding nuclear and conventional forces in its neighbourhood, deploymentof BMD and pursuit of aggressive security doctrines and developing forcepostures.”
“The nuclearisation of the Indian Ocean and canesterisation of ballisticmissiles in our neighbourhood should be a matter of concern for theinternational community as well, since these developments haveextra-regional ramifications,” he said.
“Cognizant of its responsibility as a state with nuclear capability,Pakistan has over the years developed robust command and control systemsled by the National Command Authority, effective nuclear safety andsecurity regimes and export controls which are at par with the contemporaryinternational standards. Pakistan has taken significant measures to ensurecomprehensive nuclear security which have been acknowledgedinternationally.”
He added that Pakistan was also proud of its accomplishments in harnessingnuclear technology for peace, progress and prosperity. He went on to saythat the nuclear technology had been successfully employed for the benefitof the people in areas of medicine, health, agriculture, industry, foodpreservation, water management and power generation.