Pakistan voices concern over India-Canada deal on uranium supply

Islamabad (Web Desk): Pakistan on Thursday voiced apprehension over a newly concluded long-term uranium supply arrangement between Canada and India, as well as their prospective collaboration on small modular reactors and advanced nuclear reactor technologies, describing the development as another instance of a country-specific concession in the sphere of civilian nuclear cooperation.

Answering media queries about the deal, Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said the situation was particularly ironic in light of India’s 1974 nuclear test, which had been carried out using plutonium generated from a reactor supplied by Canada for peaceful purposes. That test subsequently resulted in the creation of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

“A state whose actions necessitated the establishment of global export controls is now being granted preferential access under selective arrangements,” he said.

Andrabi further pointed out that India has not placed all of its civilian nuclear installations under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, nor has it made any binding pledge to do so under the current arrangement.

Several facilities, he noted, remain beyond international monitoring, and there is also uncertainty about what specific non-proliferation assurances, if any, are attached to the agreement.

“It is also unclear what concrete non-proliferation assurances, if any, accompany this agreement,” the FO spokesperson said.

Andrabi warned that the broader strategic implications of the agreement were also troubling. He explained that reliable access to external uranium supplies could effectively free up India’s indigenous uranium resources for military use, potentially allowing the country to increase its fissile material reserves, speed up the expansion of its nuclear arsenal, and widen existing strategic imbalances in South Asia.

“The strategic consequences are equally troubling. 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.”

The FO spokesperson further remarked that the arrangement appeared to contradict Canada’s commitments to the international nuclear non-proliferation framework and the responsibilities associated with it.

“The arrangement also undermined Canada’s commitment to the international non-proliferation regime and its corresponding obligations under that framework,” he asserted.

Reaffirming Pakistan’s stance, the FO spokesperson said that cooperation in the field of civilian nuclear energy should be governed by a non-discriminatory and criteria-based framework applied uniformly to all countries that are not signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

“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),” he said.

He concluded by cautioning that selective exemptions weaken the credibility of the global non-proliferation structure and could contribute to further instability at both regional and international levels.

“Selective exceptions diminish the credibility of the global non-proliferation framework and risk further destabilizing regional and global peace and security,” FO spokesperson said.