At a news conference, he said that Pakistan is a declared nuclear power. "We feel that all international arrangements, like departure from NPT, should obviously include Pakistan since the principle of 'equal treatment' is sacrosanct in international affairs," he emphasised.
He said: "Either the world needs us as a partner; if it does, then it cannot target us and hence there cannot be any discrimination. And, the world does need us as a partner because all leading countries of the world are inter-acting with us."
He said that as far as peaceful uses of nuclear energy are concerned, Pakistan is studying, in great depth, the implication of Washington-Delhi deal which has not come as a surprise to Pakistan because they have to separate the civil and military uses of nuclear technology. "We will have to see the reaction of other suppliers of the nuclear technology, as China and Australia have not reacted positively," he added.
He said: "This deal has two aspects: Pakistan is a declared nuclear power, as is India; we both have our own facilities; we both have our own infrastructures, both for peaceful and conventional strategic purposes. Pakistan has about 6000 scientists and 55,000 technicians working on it; so we are self-sufficient."
He said that Pakistan did not nuclearise South Asia. In 1974, India detonated its first nuclear device; so we were compelled into it."
Kasuri said: "We have made some progress towards civilian nuclear energy since we have very holistic approach towards energy. Our population is 162 million; our economy has been growing rapidly and the result is that energy is becoming a major issue. Therefore, we are looking towards all forms of energy--hydel, thermal and nuclear. We are looking for gas pipelines from Iran, Qatar and Turkmenistan, and we have civilian nuclear reactors, producing electricity, and these are fully safeguarded."
He said: "We are communicating with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and we have extended full co-operation in many areas."