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Pak has made peace proposals to India, says Sharief

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief claimed today that his government was doing its part to promote peace with India and praised his country's atomic energy commission for promoting security.

"We have offered concrete suggestions to defuse the security crisis in South Asia and to promote a settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir issue," Sharief told a meeting of nuclear experts in Islamabad arranged annually by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.

Sharief complimented the PAEC for exploiting nuclear energy for "development and security" and promised more funds for research "as soon as the economic situation eases".

Pakistan has chosen the path of self-reliance, the premier said, but he admitted that the path was beset with many difficulties because of the sanctions imposed by the industrialised nations.

Sharief said Pakistan had to demonstrate its nuclear capability after India exploded nuclear weapons.

"We now need a multi-pronged approach to sustainable development of an indigenous capability in science and technology. First we must modernise our main sectors of economic growth -- agriculture and manufacturing," the industrialist premier said.

"My government is fully committed to achieve comparable targets in socio-economic development with or without sanctions," Sharief said.

PAEC chairman Ishfaq Ahmad told the meeting that Pakistan had "largely" achieved self-reliance in different areas of nuclear technology.

"We mine, refine and manufacture natural uranium fuel... We also produce many materials which are important in nuclear industry. We have developed expertise in computer control, instrumentation," he said.

Ahmad said the construction of the country's second, Chinese-aided nuclear power plant was progressing according to schedule at Chashma. The 300-megawatt plant is expected to go on stream next year.

UNI

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