WASHINGTON - The United States has confirmed that the United States is working toward a nuclear accord with Pakistan to limit its arsenal, the White House said Thursday.
With Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif due to visit Washington next week, administration officials said they have already started talks that could ultimately govern the scale of what some experts say is the world’s fastest-growing nuclear arsenal.
Such a deal, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, is based on US concerns that Pakistan could be on the verge of deploying a small tactical nuclear weapon - very similar to those placed in Europe by the United States during the Cold War to deter Soviet Union. The details given by the White House, which before Thursday had declined to address any potential talks with Pakistan, indicated that both sides are still in the very early stages of a possible deal.
“There has been a lot of public speculation about this,” Earnest said during the press briefing. “At this point, the United States has been engaged with Pakistan, as well as the rest of the international community, on issues related to nuclear safety and security.”
Earnest added that the current climate of discussions between Washington and Islamabad are not at a level where officials might expect a deal to be reached by the time of Prime Minister Sharif’s White House visit on October 22.
“I would not be overly excited about the prospects of reaching the kind of agreement that is being speculated about publicly,” he said.
Sources told The New York Times that striking the type of agreement the Obama administration wants is unlikely for a while, partly because Pakistani officials view their nuclear arsenal as their only real defence against neighbouring India.
The goal of a deal with Pakistan is similar, but different in structure, to the deal the Obama administration reached with Iran in July.
“The United States and Pakistan are regularly engaged in a dialogue about the importance of nuclear security, and I would anticipate that dialogue would include conversations between the leaders of our two countries,” Earnest, the White House press secretary, said.
Earnest added that the administration was confident the Pakistani government was “well aware of the range of potential threats to its nuclear arsenal” and that “Pakistan has a professional and dedicated security force that understands the importance and the high priority that the world places on nuclear security.”
“If Pakistan would take the actions requested by the United States, it would essentially amount to recognition of rehabilitation and would essentially amount to parole,” George Perkovich, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the Times. “I think it’s worth a try, but I have my doubts that the Pakistanis are capable of doing this.”
The talks between the two nations are the first in a decade, since Abdul Qadeer Khan - one of the founders of Pakistan’s nuclear programme - was caught shopping the nuclear technology on the global black market to nations like Iran, North Korea and Libya.
The discussions are being led on the US side by a longtime Pakistani intelligence expert who is now on the National Security Council, the Times report said.
While many US officials are confident Pakistan’s larger nuclear weapons are secure, some fear the smaller tactical weapons create more potential for disaster.
“All it takes is one commander with secret radical sympathies, and you have a big problem,” one former official who dealt with the issue told the Times.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Stimson Center said Pakistan had the capacity to add 20 warheads annually and could have as many as 350 weapons in 10 years time.
Olson new US AfPak envoy
The outgoing American ambassador to Pakistan, Richard Olson, has been appointed as the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP), according to State Department announcement.
He is replacing Dan Feldman who concluded his tenure on September 18.
The announcement said that Olson will take charge of his new assignment next month and that he will be responsible for developing and implementing US policies and programmes for stability and prosperity in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“Ambassador Olson will assume his responsibilities as SRAP on November 17, after concluding his service as the US ambassador to Pakistan. As were his predecessors, Ambassador Olson will be responsible for developing and implementing policies and programmes that support US national security interests in promoting stability and increasing prosperity in Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
Prior to his three years of service as the US ambassador to Pakistan, Olson served as the Coordinating Director for Development and Economic Affairs at US Embassy Kabul, Afghanistan, from 2011 to 2012.
Staff Reporter from Islamabad adds: According to a press release issued by the US embassy in Islamabad on Friday, “Ambassador Olson will assume his responsibilities as SRAP on Nov 17.”
Olson’s appointment as SRAP comes at a time when the United States and its Afghan allies face resurgent militancy in Afghanistan. As SRAP, he is also expected to play a key role in the reconciliation process which seeks to end hostilities between the Afghan government and the Afghan Taliban.
Earlier on Thursday, US President Barack Obama also urged Pakistan to help restart the stalled process. Olson is the first US ambassador to Pakistan who has been appointed to this post and brings extraordinary experience in the region, the press release said.
Olson is a member of the Senior Foreign Service, and has served at the US Department of State since 1982.
Olson was sent to Islamabad in 2012 after Ambassador Cameron Munter resigned from the office amidst tensions between Washington and Islamabad.
David Hale will be replacing Olson in Islamabad. Hale was nominated for the position by President Barack Obama. The US Senate has already confirmed Hale’s appointment, who was the US ambassador to Beirut before his transfer to Islamabad.