PAKISTAN REMAINS OPPOSED TO FMCT NEGOTIATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ISLAMABAD 001691 SIPDIS SIPDIS PLEASE PASS TO US CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2018 TAGS: PREL PARM CDG UNGA PK SUBJECT: PAKISTAN REMAINS OPPOSED TO FMCT NEGOTIATIONS REF: STATE 41760 Classified By: Anne W. Patterson, for reasons 1.4 (b)(d) ¶1. (C) During an April 24 call on MFA Foreign Secretary Riaz Khan, Ambassador raised reftel points and urged Islamabad to direct the Pakistani Delegation to the Conference on Disarmament to support commencement of negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT). Khan reiterated the GOP position, which he noted had been confirmed by a Pakistan National Command Authority decision in August 2007, to oppose starting FMCT negotiations based on the current USG proposed draft. ¶2. (C) Khan urged that the U.S. "treat us like partners, not like targets." This, said Khan, was a strategic issue in which Pakistan has been maligned. Citing Kissinger's 1974 remark that the (nuclear) horse has left the barn and no others will be allowed to follow, Khan insisted that Pakistan had been singled out unfairly for responding to the provocation of Indian nuclear tests. When the Ambassador pressed for a more forward looking policy and noted that Pakistan could raise its verification concerns during FMCT negotiations, Khan repeated the GOP's support for the Shannon Mandate. Khan also raised Pakistan's increasingly severe need for energy. Ambassador responded that the U.S. would do what it could to help Pakistan meet growing energy demand but urged Khan to reconsider Pakistan's position on FMCT negotiations. ¶3. (C) Comment: Post has repeatedly raised this issue with the MFA with no success to date. Department may want to call in the Pakistani Ambassador to put this into a larger bilateral context. PATTERSON