Pakistan's Offer To India For Bilateral Non-testing Reflects Its

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th August, 2016) : Pakistan Tuesday said its offer to India for bilateral non-testing arrangement of nuclear weapons was reflective of its policy of promoting restraint and responsibility in South Asia. "The bilateral non-testing arrangement, if mutually agreed, could become binding immediately without waiting for the entry into force of the CTBT at the international level," the Foreign Office spokesman said in a statement. He was responding to media queries with reference to Pakistan's offer to India for a bilateral arrangement on non-testing of nuclear weapons, announced by Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on August 12. The Spokesperson said that following the nuclear tests in 1998, Pakistan had proposed to India simultaneous adherence to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

The proposal, however, did not elicit a favourable response from India. The spokesman said Pakistan has once again indicated the possibility that the two countries may consider a bilateral arrangement, in the larger interest of peace and stability in the region, as well as in the global context.

He said Pakistan has indicated the possibility that the two countries may consider a bilateral arrangement, which showed its consistent support for the objectives of the CTBT.

The Spokesperson said that while the unilateral moratoriums declared by the two countries were voluntary, legally non-binding and could be withdrawn unilaterally, a bilateral arrangement will be mutually binding and difficult to withdraw from unilaterally.

Both countries could consider working out the details of the arrangement and mutually agreed confidence-building measures in relation to it, the spokesman said. He said it could set the tone for further mutually agreed measures on restraint and avoidance of arms race in South Asia. The spokesman said that a bilateral arrangement on non-testing will also send a positive signal to the Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) countries which were discussing the non-proliferation commitments of non-NPT states in relation to the question of membership.