Pakistan on Tuesday said nuclear scientist A Q Khan, under house arrest after admitting to proliferating atomic secrets four years ago, has no official position and can no longer indulge in proliferation.
Asserting Pakistan's commitment to non-proliferation, a statement issued by the office of the national security advisor to the prime minister said the country "will continue to support global efforts in this area with full commitment."
"A Q Khan has no official position. He cannot, nor can anyone else indulge in proliferation," said the statement, which was issued in the wake of reports that a smuggling ring led by Khan might have provided designs for a compact nuclear weapon that could be fitted on ballistic missiles to countries like Iran and North Korea.
Pakistan has put in place strict security measures and will continue to upgrade them in line with evolving threats.
"In addition, we have established strong export controls at par with international standards. Pakistan has and will continue to welcome best practices from nuclear states and relevant international agencies," the statement said.
It also referred to "speculative views and comments" expressed by some scholars in the US at a US Senate Committee hearing on Pakistan-US strategic relations on June 12.
The views of scholars which were "highly appreciative" of measures taken by Pakistan to protect its nuclear assets were "conveniently ignored by the media," it said.
"For example, a scholar commented that 'Pakistan's nuclear assets are its most closely guarded man-made objects' and the guardians of these assets are now 'subject to improved personnel reliability screening procedures, and the security practices of sensitive sites have been upgraded with improved personnel reliability screening and upgraded security practices'," it said.