DEMARCHE DELIVERED: FISSILE MATERIAL CUTOFF TREATY

C O N F I D E N T I A L ISLAMABAD 011103 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS DEPT FOR ISN/MNSA E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/12/2016 TAGS: PK PREL PARM MNUC KNNP CDG SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: FISSILE MATERIAL CUTOFF TREATY REF: A. STATE 92033 ¶B. ISLAMABAD 9098 Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) On June 12, poloff delivered ref A points to MFA Director (Disarmament Cell) Mohammad Kamran Akhtar, stressing the U.S. desire to avoid "linkages" in fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT) negotiations at the Conference on Disarmament (CD). Akhtar responded that the Government of Pakistan (GOP) is ready to begin negotiations on the FMCT, in principal. Akhtar noted that several of the issues described in A/S Rademaker's May 17 address to the CD as unhelpful "linkages" were normative and legal in nature, representing substantive concerns, not procedural diversions. Pakistan does not view these issues as Cold War holdovers; as many have contemporary relevance, the GOP wants a full discussion within a balanced framework of negotiations on the FMCT. Akhtar said that these points have been raised by Pakistan's Ambassador to the CD. ¶2. (C) Akhtar continued by noting that the U.S. proposal for the FMCT addresses only which states will maintain future stocks of fissile material. The GOP feels that this approach neglects the two-pronged UNGA mandate for the CD, which encompassed both non-proliferation and disarmament. The GOP believes that the FMCT should also address identify (and verify) existing stockpiles. This is important in a regional context, according to Akhtar, as the GOP does not want the FMCT to freeze any asymmetry between India and Pakistan. ¶3. (C) We've been down this road before, Akhtar said, recalling that following the 1992 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC),India declared itself a non-possessor state. Acording to Akhtar, Pakistan and India thereafter entered a non-verifiable bilateral agreement not to develop chemical weapons. Pakistan was therefore unpleasantly surprise, Akhtar continued, in 1996 when India declared itself a possessor state. The GOP does not want to find itself in a similar position, Akhtar concluded, with regard to the FMCT. (Note: Akhtar has raised similar concerns regarding regional stability and verification in earlier discussions (Ref B). End note.) CROCKER