Islamabad, July 07: Pakistan's leader insisted today that his country's nuclear arsenal is under tight control and will not fall into the ``wrong hands,'' after officials said that the promised $3 billion in US aid depends in part on Pakistan exporting no nuclear technology. ``Pakistan will never proliferate,'' President Pervez Musharraf told scientists at a college near the capital Islamabad, the state-run news agency said. ``Pakistan's nuclear potential is under very strong custodial control.''
The Pakistani foreign ministry on Monday also denied that Pakistan had shared nuclear technology with North Korea. Opposition lawmakers have alleged that Musharraf agreed to roll back the country's nuclear programme to get the aid. However, Musharraf has said Pakistan will retain its nuclear weapons programme.
"Pakistan has taken all necessary measures to prevent nuclear proliferation and prevent its strategic assets going into the wrong hands,'' Musharraf said. Musharraf said Pakistan's nuclear programme is totally indigenous and was developed only because of the threat it faces.
Foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan said today that Musharraf told foreign leaders during his trips to the United States and Europe that Pakistan did not export nuclear technology to North Korea.
Musharraf made clear that Pakistan's relationship with North Korea did not cover ``conventional or non-conventional transactions,'' Khan said. Bureau Report