PAKISTAN WILL NOT "IMPEDE" THE IAEA INDIA SAFEGUARDS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ISLAMABAD 002514 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/24/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL PARM ETTC PK SUBJECT: PAKISTAN WILL NOT "IMPEDE" THE IAEA INDIA SAFEGUARDS AGREEMENT REF: A. ISLAMABAD 2457 ¶B. STATE 74896 Classified by: Anne W. Patterson, reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) On July 24, A/DCM met with MFA Additional Secretary for the U.N. and E.C. Khalid Aziz Babar to reiterate U.S. concern that Pakistan is blocking IAEA action on the proposed India Safeguards Agreement (Ref A). Babar reported that despite the previous position of the Embassy of Pakistan in Vienna, the GOP's current position is that it will not impede IAEA action on the Safeguards Agreement. ¶2. (C) Babar stated that the GOP concern was based on the fact that this agreement did not fit under the two accepted models -- a nuclear weapons states agreement and model 66 agreements. Pakistan's IAEA agreement for the Chasma plant, for example, fit under the model 66 agreement. The GOP hopes that the India Safeguards Agreement will become a model for future civil nuclear agreements between other countries (read Pakistan). ¶3. (C) Earlier on July 24, National Security Advisor Durrani assured Ambassador he would call the Foreign Secretary to ensure that the IAEA issue was resolved before PM Gilani's Washington visit. PATTERSON