US lawmaker voices concern

WASHINGTON - A key American lawmaker, who unsuccessfully opposed the Indo-US nuclear deal, has
expressed concern over the nuclear arms race in South Asia, and urged the Obama administration to
encourage India and Pakistan to sign the treaty banning all nuclear tests and halt production of nuclear-weapon
fissile material.
'US should encourage both countries to abide by their current nuclear test moratoria and to sign and ratify the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban (Treaty), Democratic Congressman Edward Markey said in a letter to
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday.
In his letter, Markey, founder of the House of Representatives Bipartisan Task Force on Non-proliferation, also
posed pertinent questions about published reports claiming Pakistan may have illegally modified US-exported
Harpoon missiles to give them a land-attack capability.
Pakistan has categorically rejected such claims made in a story in The New York Times, and, in fact, US experts
say Pakistan has developed its own modern missiles while Harpoon missiles are decades-old, supplied in
1980s.
Pakistani officials, reacting to the news dispatch, last week termed it as incorrect, saying that instead of making
such allegations, the US media should help Pakistan fight terrorism.
The questions the Congressmans letter posed are:
Did the US government lodge a protest or otherwise communicate, either formally or informally, with the govt of
Pakistan regarding that countrys US-exported Harpoon missiles? If so, what was the content of that protest?
Has Pakistan, as reported, allowed US officials to inspect Pakistans Harpoon inventory to determine if
modifications have been made? If so, has that inspection taken place? Were all of the Harpoon missiles
exported by the United States to Pakistan inspected? Were any modifications made to the missiles?
Does the Department of State believe that the Harpoon missiles in Pakistans inventory can be armed with
nuclear warheads? Does the Department of State believe that Pakistan has armed or intends to arm any of its
Harpoon missiles with nuclear warheads?
Does the Department of State believe that Pakistan has violated its commitments under the Harpoon export
licenses? What repercussions are stipulated by the Arms Export Control Act in such a case?
There has been no response so far from the State Department.
As regards the Indo-Pakistan nuclear arms race, Markey called it 'worrisome, as, he said, both countries
appear to be increasing their ability to manufacture nuclear weapons.
'The United States should encourage both countries to halt the production of nuclear weapons-usable fissile
material, pending the entry into force of a globally binding Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty, he added.
'It is for this reason that I opposed the US-India nuclear deal, which will allow India to free up extra domestic
uranium for nuclear weapons production if it chooses, as well as the construction of new plutonium production
reactors in Pakistan, which could increase the size of Islamabads nuclear arsenal, he said.
'The United States must play a strong role to improve relations between these two nuclear-armed neighbours,
and to discourage destabilising actions, Markey added.