Pak ‘worried’ India may hold more n-tests

Pakistan does not “discuss the contours of our deterrence in public” but is committed to maintaining a “credible deterrence at the minimum levels,” he said. Pakistan is also opposed to any arms race in South Asia,he added.

“We have proposed a regional restraint regime,including a regional nuclear test ban treaty. The proposal is still on the table. We hope a unilateral moratorium on testing in the region will continue to be observed,” Basit said.

Leading Indian defence scientist K Santhanam’s recent remarks that the test of a thermonuclear bomb in 1998 was not as successful as was claimed,triggered speculation that New Delhi could be preparing for further tests to validate the design of its nuclear weapons. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has refuted Santhanam’s claims.

Basit also said that Pakistan was not “blocking” nuclear disarmament talks at the UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament. “Pakistan has shown flexibility and did not block the talks. We would not like our genuine security interests to be compromised,” he said. Earlier this week,negotiators failed to clear the way for the start of talks in Geneva on nuclear disarmament as Pakistan said its security interests had not been respected.