Islamabad, March 5 Pakistan expressed concern on Thursday over the long-term uranium supply agreement between Canada and India, stating that it could lead to an expansion of India's stockpiles.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was in India from February 27 to March 2, during which India and Canada finalized key agreements on the supply of uranium and critical minerals, and agreed to conclude a comprehensive economic partnership agreement soon.
"Pakistan has noted with concern the long-term uranium supply agreement concluded between Canada and India, as well as the potential for cooperation on small modular reactors and advanced reactor technologies between the two countries," Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said in a statement in response to media queries.
The statement said the agreement has "strategic consequences" that are concerning because "assured external uranium supplies effectively release India's domestic reserves for military use, enabling the expansion of its fissile material stockpiles, accelerating the growth of its nuclear arsenal, and deepening existing asymmetries in South Asia's strategic balance."
It further stated that the arrangement also undermines Canada's commitment to the international non-proliferation regime and its corresponding obligations under that framework. "This arrangement represents yet another country-specific exception in the field of civil nuclear cooperation," it said.
The statement reiterated that civil nuclear cooperation must be governed by a non-discriminatory, criteria-based approach applicable equally to states that are not parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
