America
US calls for restraint on n-arms, NSA to visit Pakistan
Washington, Aug 29
As tensions between India
and Pakistan continue to escalate, US National Security Advisor Susan
Rice is expected to arrive in Pakistan on Sunday, media reported on
Saturday.
The US, earlier, called for restraint in developing
nuclear weapons and expressed concern over recent developments as well
as rising tensions between the neighbouring countries.
During the visit, Rice is also expected to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and her counterpart Sartaj Aziz.
Rice
is also expected to meet Pakistan's political and military leadership
over bilateral relations and the regional security situation, Dawn
reported.
A top military source also confirmed a separate meeting
with the army chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif, at the General Headquarters in
Rawalpindi, where the regional security situation is likely to be
discussed.
Earlier, the US warned that speculation about the
potential use of such weapons will not help reduce tensions between
India and Pakistan, media reported.
At a news briefing, US State
Department spokesman John Kirby on Friday stressed the need for
exercising restraint in developing nuclear weapons.
"Obviously,
we continue to urge all nuclear-capable states, including Pakistan, to
exercise restraint regarding furthering their nuclear capabilities," he
said.
He refused to get dragged into a media debate, claiming
that some Pakistani officials had threatened to use the nuclear option
if the current situation in South Asia led to an armed conflict with
India.
"I haven't seen those comments, so I'd be loath to
specifically address them," Kirby said, "what we want to see are the
tensions decrease".
Asked if the US was working with Pakistan to
bring it into the mainstream on the nuclear issue, Kirby said:
"Obviously, these kinds of matters are matters we discuss with Pakistani
leaders on a routine basis."
The nuclear issue, he said, was
something that the US would continue to focus on, as it was consistent
with President Obama's vision of a world without nuclear weapons.
Kirby
said the US regularly held discussions with Pakistani officials on the
country's nuclear programme but he refused to comment on a US think-tank
report that Pakistan would have the third-largest nuclear stockpiles
after the US and Russia in a decade. "I'm not going to have anything
substantive to offer on the report's findings," he said.
The
think tank report released on Thursday said that Pakistan should have
the rights and obligations of a nuclear-weapon state recognised by the
NPT.
Countries recognised as nuclear-weapon states by the members
of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) are allowed to keep their weapons
in return for meeting certain obligations.
"It is in Pakistan's
national security interests and the interests of the international
community to find ways in which Pakistan can enjoy the rights and follow
the obligations of other nuclear-weapon states recognised by the NPT,"
says the paper released by two think tanks, the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace and the Stimson Centre.