Foreign Office rejects rumours about ‘Possibility of N-Rollback’
The Foreign Office on Thursday rubbished in categorical terms the debate in a section of the media about any possible move to rollback the country’s nuclear arsenal in return for any economic package from the United States and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Some mainstream media and social media users speculated on the two-day visit of Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi at a time when cash-strapped Pakistan is seeking a bailout package from the IMF.
“I can categorically state here that this issue is not on the agenda of DG IAEA’s visit and will not be discussed and there will be no agreement in the context you are referring to,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch rejected the speculations in categorical terms when she was asked to comment on certain speculated media reports during her weekly media briefing.
“We must realize that IAEA deals with civilian nuclear technology and that is the mandate of IAEA. Director General of IAEA is on a visit to Pakistan to discuss cooperation on civil uses of nuclear technology,” she said, adding that the areas of cooperation being discussed during this visit are cooperation in areas of health, agriculture, industry, nuclear medicine, and power generation.
In meetings with DG IAEA, she said that Pakistan’s side has also discussed collaboration between Pakistan and IAEA on new high-yield and drought-resistant varieties of crops and Pakistan’s support for neighbouring countries as a regional centre in the Rays of Hope program of the IAEA.