Hillary Clinton says US willing to consider nuke cooperation with Pak

In the clearest sign yet from Washington, secretary of state Hillary Clinton today said the US would "consider" Pakistan's request for a civilian nuclear deal as Islamabad sought atomic cooperation and military hardware to bring itself on a par with India.

Ahead of the crucial US-Pak strategic dialogue, Pakistan submitted a 56-page document to the Obama administration seeking, among other things, a civilian nuclear deal and drone technology.

Notwithstanding India's reservations, Clinton made it clear that the issue of energy would be one of the subjects of discussion but refused to pre-judge the outcome of the talks.

She said the US would "consider" Pakistan's request for a civilian nuclear deal as it wanted to help the country meet its immediate and long-term energy needs.

"I am sure that's going to be raised and we are going to be considering it, but I can't pre-judge or pre-empt what the outcome of our discussions will be," Clinton said when asked whether Pakistan could have a civilian nuclear deal with the US similar to the one Washington has with India.

"On the energy issues specifically there are more immediate steps that could be taken. We want to help Pakistan with immediate and long-term needs," Clinton told Pakistan's Express TV in an interview.

Ever since the US signed the nuclear deal with India, Pakistan has been repeatedly seeking similar cooperation. But the previous Bush administration had refused to entertain the request arguing that the non-proliferation records of India and Pakistan were not comparable.

The first indications of America's willingness to discuss civilian nuclear cooperation with Pakistan came two days ago from US ambassador to Islamabad Anne Patterson, who said America's non-proliferation concerns were beginning to pass and nuclear cooperation is a scenario that can be explored.

India has voiced unhappiness over such moves and asked the US to keep in mind Pakistan's track record of clandestine nuclear proliferation.

India points to the clandestine proliferation network run by AQ Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear programme. Khan is believed to have provided nuclear technology and material to countries like North Korea and Syria.

The Pakistani delegation for tomorrow's strategic dialogue include army chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and ISI's Lt Gen Shuja Pasha. It is headed by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who would co-chair the strategic dialogue with Clinton.

The 56-page Pakistani document outlines a range of aid Islamabad is seeking from the US, The Wall Street Journal
reported citing American and Pakistani officials who have seen
it or been briefed on its contents.

In the document, which is believed to have been submitted to the US before the arrival of the high-power Pakistani delegation here on Saturday last, Islamabad also seeks US help for revival of the Indo-Pak dialogue stalled since the Mumbai attack and resolving its chronic water and power shortages.

The daily said Pakistan's fears of being outflanked by India, which has forged close ties with the Afghan government, are reflected in the document's indirect language about regional security issues.

Clinton said: "What we try to do in the strategic dialogue is to begin the hard work of sorting through all the different issues that are raised."

The US is "very committed" to the dialogue, but it also knows that "whatever we do will take time, it's not the kind of commitment that you easily produce overnight or even within a year, but it is important to get started, to sort it [out and] to develop the trust and the confidence between us...," Clinton said.

Clinton also made it clear that the US sees a key role for Pakistan in the emerging scenario in Afghanistan, including efforts to negotiate with the Taliban and reintegrate the militants into Afghan society.

"That's one of the things that we will be discussing in the strategic dialogue because clearly Pakistan has a very important role to play and the actions that Pakistan has taken against the Taliban extremists inside Pakistan... have been extremely important and very well done to demonstrate that you cannot allow terrorists to operate inside your own country,” she said.

"And now we want to get Pakistan's advice about how best to move forward in Afghanistan," she added.

Asked about the perception that Pakistan and India are engaged in a "proxy war" within Afghanistan, Clinton said: "I think there is a regional strategy, but of course there is an immediate need to try to deal with violence in Afghanistan, to try to take back areas that had been overrun by the Taliban, which is what the military campaign is about.

"It is also important to put the Afghan government on a stronger foundation so that they can deliver services. But clearly Pakistan is very much involved in assisting us, in counselling and advising us about what will or won’t work in Afghanistan."

Clinton dismissed former UN envoy to Afghanistan Kai Eide's remarks that Pakistan's arrest of top Afghan militant commanders like Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar had disrupted efforts to engage the Taliban.

"That's not how I see it. I don't want to contradict anyone, but the way I see it is that it was an example of cooperation between Pakistan and the US. Both sides have said that they shared intelligence.

"These people pose threats to both of our countries and I think that arresting those who are posing those threats or have conducted or condoned terrorist attacks in the past is in both the interests of the US and Pakistan," she said.

Asked if the US would start talking directly to the Taliban leadership, Clinton said: "That is not really anything that the US is doing. That is what Afghanistan is doing, president [Hamid] Karzai is doing. We have said we will support his efforts, but we are still at the very early stages of any kind of political reconciliation process."