Pak scientist drops a bombshell

Asked when Pakistan would carry out a nuclear explosion, Khan replied: “Get permission from the Government.”

Pakistan is viewed as a threshold nuclear power and says it has the ability to produce nuclear weapons but has chosen not to develop them.

Khan was the brain behind the launch last week of Pakistan’s Ghauri medium-range missile which the Government says is aimed as a deterrent against India’s arsenals.

Khan’s remarks were published hours before America’s United Nations envoy Bill Richardson arrived in Islamabad from New Delhi seeking to breathe new life into stalled peace talks between thetwo rivals.

Khan was quoted as denying foreign media reports that Ghauri was developed with the help of North Korea or China and insisted that the weapon was home-built.

“It is completely indigenous,” he said, adding “I would not disclose where we bought the inputs for it. These can be bought all over the world.”

The scientist said the Ghauri, which has a range of 1,500 km (900 miles) could not be hit by any anti-missile system, including Indian defences.“We have got the basic principle (of missile development), and we can now further increase its range,” APP quoted him as saying.

He said Pakistan was the only country in the world where one institution, his own Khan Research Laboratories, had developed both nuclear and missile systems.

Recent media reports said Pakistan had developed a nuclear reactor, but no Government comment was forthcoming.