Envoy rejects Pakistan nuke buildup report

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Pakistan's new U.S. envoy reportedly has said his country's new power reactor can have military uses but won't lead to a big increase in nuclear weapons.

Speaking to editors and reporters of The Washington Times, Mahmud Ali Durrani said a Washington think tank's report that the plutonium reactor when completed can boost Pakistan's nuclear arsenal from the estimated two a year currently to as many as 50 a year is "grossly exaggerated."

The Times said the interview was the ambassador's first official acknowledgment the heavy-water reactor can bring some increase in Pakistan's military nuclear capability.

A recent assessment of the reactor by the Institute for Science and International Security has raised concerns about the threat of a nuclear arms race in the subcontinent between Pakistan and its neighbor India.

"The plutonium may certainly be used for military purposes, but it is simply not the case that it will increase our capability X-fold," said Durrani, whom the Times identified as a former top defense adviser to the Pakistani president and chairman of the country's military industrial complex.

Referring to the proposed U.S.-India civilian nuclear deal Durrani said, "We know your administration is very keen for this deal, but we also don't want to see an imbalance with India that we would have to match."