'China says its nuke coop with Pak is for peaceful purpose'
China has assured India that its nuclear cooperation with Pakistan is for peaceful purposes, the external affairs minister, Mr
S.M. Krishna on Thursday said in the Rajya Sabha.
He said during Question Hour that India is keeping a close watch on nuclear cooperation between China and Pakistan and has taken up the issue with Beijing.
"China has assured us that its nuclear cooperation with Pakistan is for peaceful purposes," he said.
Mr Krishna was responding to BJP member Ram Jethmalani's concern over supply of two nuclear reactors by China to Pakistan recently.
"We do realise the seriousness of this development. Pakistan's acquisition of nuclear reactors is of serious concern to us and we are keeping a close watch on this," he said.
To a query by Ravi Shankar Prasad (BJP) about nuclear activities being undertaken by Pakistan and China, Mr Krishna said, "this is something where we make assessment. We know Pakistan and China have nuclear facilities and we are also aware of clandestine proliferation efforts of countries like Iran and Libya.
"We also know about the activities of the A.Q. Khan (the disgraced Pakistan nuclear scientist) group. We monitor these activities and take appropriate steps to ensure that national security is not jeopardised."
On Myanmar's denial of media reports about its nuclear activities, Mr Krishna said, "If a country like Myanmar with which India has bilateral relations, asserts a denial (about its nuclear programmes), then India will have to believe."
At the same time, he added, "The government is trying to gather information about such peripheral activities. We monitor such activities closely as we are concerned about security of the country."
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