NEW DELHI A nuclear deal between Washington and Islamabad is not possible at this juncture, as there were ‘‘concerns’’ over Pakistan’s proliferation record, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday night. ‘‘Everyone knows that there have been concerns in terms of proliferation with Pakistan. Pakistan itself is aware of it. We are working with Pakistan to improve on proliferation,’’ Rice told Zee News in an interview.
Asked whether the US could sign a nuclear deal with Pakistan as it did with India when President George W Bush visits that country, she said, ‘‘This is not a stage Pakistan is currently in.... This is not the time for such an arrangement with Pakistan.’’
However, Washington considered Pakistan and its President Pervez Musharraf as a ‘‘tremendous ally’’ in the war on terrorism... We must fight terror more robustly. We are working with Musharraf in areas which are largely ungoverned. The Pakistani Army and its frontier forces are fighting al-Qaeda more actively’’.
Parrying a question on the Indo-Iran gas pipeline, Rice said both India and the US were very dependent on hydrocarbons for energy supplies and President Bush now favoured allowing all countries to have ‘‘clean nuclear energy and civilian nuclear power, regardless of what happens to the pipeline’’.
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