By NNN-Xinhua,
Islamabad : Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the government would not give any foreign country access to its strategic nuclear assets.
“These are national assets and there will be no compromise on the issue,” Qureshi told a news conference here on Thursday.
Local media reported that the U.S. State Department had sought the accreditation of an official to be posted at the American embassy here with the Nuclear Command Authority (NCA), the body that controls Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.
The News Network International quoted Qureshi as saying that no foreign officials would be given any sort of access to the country’s nuclear assets. “National interests come first,” Qureshi said.
The Foreign Office said Wednesday that there was also no system to accredit foreign officials with the Strategic Plans Division (SPD), the tri-services body that maintains the nuclear arsenal and functions as the NCA which comprises the President, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Defense Minister and top civil and military officials.
Decisions on the use of atomic weapons will be made by the NCA, the actual launch of the weapons is the responsibility of the SPD.