LONDON: PM Nawaz Sharif Monday said that Pakistan’s nuclear program was meant to maintain deterrence against any external aggression and government would not compromise on national interests.
Talking to the newsmen here during a stopover on his way to the four-day official visit to the United States, the PM said that Pakistan had developed its nuclear programme under the country’s requirement.
“This is our position which cannot be compromised,” he said, and mentioned his pre-departure statement in which he had described Pakistan’s strategic assets as secured under a foolproof arrangement.
When asked whether the government would make any compromise on country’s nuclear assets under any foreign pressure, the PM asked, “Who was the prime minister in 1998 when Pakistan carried out nuclear tests.”
The prime minister reiterated that establishment of peace in Afghanistan was inevitable for peace in the region. Dispelling the impression of any foreign pressure against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the prime minister said some of its allied projects had already been launched and would be completed timely.
Responding to another question, the prime minister assured the overseas Pakistanis that the government was striving for granting them the right to vote.
About the Indian intervention in Pakistan, the PM said Pakistan had handed over relevant record to the United Nations containing solid proofs. Earlier, the prime minister was received at the airport by the representative of British Government Ms Kathryn Colvin, CVO, SCIL and Syed Ibne Abbas, Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK.
