New Delhi: Within hours of the purported nuclear test by North Korea that caught the entire world napping, Pakistan steered clear of Pyongyang's nuclear ambition, saying this nuclear test does not have an A Q Khan link.
A Q Khan had admitted on national television in 2004 that he had passed atomic secrets to North Korea, Iran and Libya. He transferred nearly two-dozen centrifuges to North Korea, President Pervez Musharraf said in his memoirs published last month.
Still hailed as a hero by the Pakistani public, Khan was pardoned by Gen Musharraf shortly after his confession and is effectively living under house arrest in Islamabad.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry minced no words in criticising North Korea for conducting the nuclear test. "It is regrettable that the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) chose to ignore the advice of the international community not to test a nuclear weapon," ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said in Islamabad.
Aslam said Pakistan, which is also a nuclear-armed state, supported the six-party talks aimed at getting North Korea to step back from its nuclear programme.
"Pakistan deplores the announcement by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea that it has conducted a nuclear test," Aslam said.
Aslam also claimed that the North Korean test was not linked to Pakistani nuclear technology that was delivered to the Pyongyang regime by disgraced Pakistani nuclear programme founder A Q Khan.
"There is absolutely no link between the nuclear test conducted by North Korea or what might have gone on by Dr A Q Kahn and the North Korean government," Aslam said. "The North Korean programme is plutonium-based and Pakistan's is mainly uranium based."
Pakistani political analyst Talat Masood said the North Korean nuclear test could spark the proliferation of nuclear weapons across the Asian region.
Aslam also defended Pakistan’s own nuclear record. “Pakistan did not initiate nuclear tests in the region. We were acting purely in self-defence,” she said.
Unlike South Asia in 1998, “the Korean peninsula was a nuclear-free zone,” she said. “It is going to have a chain reaction that nobody wants. We are talking about it because of its ramifications on international peace and security.”
Indian defence experts, however, say North Korea had followed the Pakistan example.
"Pakistan has nuclear arsenal, but they are not willing to give access to Osama. North Korea has followed the Pakistan example,” said Indian Defence Analyst K Subramaniam.
He says, "This move by North Korea will make Japan rethink its nuclear and defence policy. It will help Bush strengthen his efforts in building defense against North Korea. This also means that US can be now subjected more to nuclear attacks," he pointed out.
Dr A Gopalakrishnan, former chairman of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board of India, however says "this nuclear test does change the power equation in the world."
"But we all knew this was coming. Now the situation changes for South Korea, Japan and that part of the world. But India should learn that we should not jump into any deal that changes our programme that could lead to our other tests being marred," he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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