WASHINGTON, May 20: US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said that there is no doubt about both India and Pakistan being nuclear states and hoped that they would continue the peace process began in January.

"They both are nuclear (powers) and there is no question about that. They both have nuclear capability," Mr Powell told reporters outside his office here after meeting Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri on Wednesday.

Later in the evening, Mr Kasuri told a group of Pakistani journalists that that should end speculations in the media that the United States was pressing Pakistan to abandon its nuclear programme.

"We have now moved to the next stage and are now seeking a new five-plus-three arrangement," the foreign minister said while explaining Islamabad's plan for seeking legitimacy for its nuclear programme.

The 187-nation Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty recognizes only five nations - the United States, Russia, France, Britain and China - as nuclear powers. Mr Kasuri said Pakistan respected this nuclear regime but was seeking an arrangement that would also bring international recognition for other three known nuclear-weapon states - India, Pakistan and Israel.

"We do not want more nuclear powers. It is not in our interest to have more nuclear powers," said Mr Kasuri while assuring the international community that Pakistan had completely uprooted the network responsible for smuggling nuclear technology to other nations.

Earlier, Mr. Powell told Dawn that the executive and legislative procedure for designating Pakistan a non-Nato major ally had already started. Mr Powell proposed making Pakistan a non-Nato ally during a visit to Islamabad on March 18.

Last month, the US administration sent the required 30-day notice to Congress and could grant the new status to Pakistan once that procedure completes. "The proposal is moving its way through our process.

And I don't have the timelines in mind, but it's working its way through our executive and legislative process," Mr Powell said. He said that during a "very successful" meeting with Mr Kasuri, he also discussed the ongoing operation in South Waziristan against the Taliban and Al Qaeda militants who continued to "drift back and forth" across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

There was a need to continue cooperation against the remnants of these terrorist groups, he said. Later at a separate briefing, Mr Kasuri also emphasized the need to continue the fight against terror, but said Pakistan also needed to look after its own interests.

Commenting on a recent statement by a US commander in Afghanistan that Pakistan should launch a military operation against militants in South Waziristan rather than asking for registration, Mr Kasuri declared: "We will not kill our people for the sake of anybody."

Some of the foreigners settled in South Waziristan, he said, had married locals and have children from them. Mr Powell said his meeting with Mr Kasuri focused on South Asian issues, including elections in India.

Both agreed that they did not think that the change in government in New Delhi would derail the peace process between India and Pakistan. Though India's new government led by the Congress Party has not yet officially taken office, both Mr Powell and Mr Kasuri said they thought initial policy statements from New Delhi were encouraging.

"We both agreed that these were positive signals and that we need to continue with that," said Mr Kasuri. Mr Powell said he had no cause for concern that political change in India would alter the peace process.

"I think, as the minister said a minute ago, the activities between India and Pakistan - the road-map that they have been following - seems to still be very much intact, and we expect that both sides will continue to walk down that path."

Mr Powell said he and Mr Kasuri also discussed how to resolve the cases of Pakistanis held at Guantanamo Bay, and the nuclear proliferation ring exposed in February.

"We're very pleased at what the Pakistani government has been doing and we look forward to continuing our exchange of information about the activities of Dr Khan and his associates," he said.

"We also discussed Pakistan's concern about detainees and how we are continuing to work closely with each other to resolve outstanding issues concerning Pakistani detainees," he said.