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Pak will sign NPT, CTBT if India does

Pakistan will sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty if India disarms its nuclear weapons, the country's ambassador to Russia said today.

"While we still adhere to the objectives of non-proliferation, the question of joining these treaties will depend on India's response to the international community's demand to reverse the course of action it has taken,'' said ambassador Mansoor Alam.

"India must carry out a complete nuclear disarmament under international inspection and open all its nuclear facilities to international safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency,'' he told the Interfax news agency.

The United States and other industrialised countries have urged Pakistan not to test a nuclear device in response to India's declaration that it has become a nuclear power.

However, domestic pressure has mounted for Pakistan to respond in kind, and the ambassador refused to say whether Pakistan would conduct a nuclear test.

"Pakistan will take into account all related factors and decide its response accordingly,'' Alam said.

Pakistan has previously offered to sign the NPT, on the condition that India also signed, something New Delhi has consistently rejected.

UNI

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