US refuses to talk nuclear energy with Pakistan

US Energy Secretary, Samuel Bodman (L), listens to Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri (R) at a meeting in Islamabad yesterday. Bodman arrived in Pakistan for talks on a recent US-Indian nuclear deal and a proposed gas pipeline to Iran. PHOTO: AFP

Bodman, who arrived 11 days after Washington signed a landmark civilian nuclear energy deal with Pakistan's long-term rival India, met Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri.

The US official said Pakistani officials wanted to talk about nuclear energy but he was not prepared to do so during his current visit.

"We have developed a very wide-ranging and effective sort of dialogue with Pakistan but it does not include nuclear energy and I did not discuss that during this visit," he told reporters.

"There were expressions made by various members of the government about their desire to talk about nuclear energy, but it was not the subject that I was...or am prepared to deal with."

Pakistan was not offered a similar deal to India during President George W. Bush's visit to both countries even though it has the status of a major US non-Nato ally.

Pakistan also played a key role in combating al-Qaeda militants after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

Bodman added that he had discussed proposals for three separate gas pipelines from Qatar, Iran and Turkmenistan to Pakistan.

"We are not encouraging that," he said of a planned multi-billion-dollar pipeline stretching from Iran across Pakistan to India.

"Our country has had and continues to have significant problems with Iran. They seem to be building a military arsenal based on nuclear weapons and we are trying to prevent that."

Pakistan foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam insisted that the Pakistani and US delegations had discussed civilian nuclear cooperation.

"This (civilian nuclear technology) is something that we have been discussing about and yes it was discussed and we will continue to take this issue up," Aslam told a weekly briefing.

Aslam said that Bodman invited a Pakistani delegation to visit Washington for further discussions on energy cooperation.

The Pakistan side briefed the US delegation on the country's energy needs and possible alternative sources including hydroelectric, gas, coal, nuclear and renewables, a joint statement said after the talks.

Bush said after meeting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on March 4 that they had discussed nuclear issues and that "Pakistan and India are different countries with different needs and different histories."