ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has expressed concern over a long-term uranium supply agreement between Canada and India, as well as their potential cooperation on small modular reactors and advanced nuclear reactor technologies.
Responding to media queries on Thursday, Tahir Andrabi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pakistan, said the arrangement represents another country-specific exception in civil nuclear cooperation.
He noted that the development is particularly ironic in light of India’s 1974 nuclear test, which was conducted using plutonium produced in a reactor originally supplied by Canada for peaceful purposes. According to the spokesperson, that test directly led to the creation of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
“A state whose actions necessitated the establishment of global export controls is now being granted preferential access under selective arrangements,” Andrabi said.
He further pointed out that India has not placed all of its civilian nuclear facilities under safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), nor has it undertaken any binding commitment to do so under the new agreement. Several of its facilities, he noted, remain outside international inspection regimes, while the agreement does not clearly specify what non-proliferation assurances accompany the cooperation.
The spokesperson also raised concerns over the strategic implications for South Asia. According to him, assured external uranium supplies could allow India to divert its domestic uranium reserves toward military use, potentially expanding its fissile material stockpiles and accelerating the growth of its nuclear arsenal.
Such developments, he warned, could deepen existing strategic asymmetries in the region.
Andrabi added that the agreement also raises questions regarding Canada’s commitments to the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and its obligations under global export control frameworks.
Story by Naveed Siddiqui
