The nuclear tangle

Finally, it is official: "some individuals" have sold nuclear secrets to foreign parties. The disclosure, or admission, has come from no less a person than President Pervez Musharraf himself. Which countries are the beneficiaries of the secrets is not yet clear. But about Iran, the president told CNN in his interview on Friday that Tehran "may" have received some nuclear secrets from individual Pakistani scientists. What is more astonishing is the president's assertion about nuclear secrets reaching Libya and North Korea.

He said he was "not denying anything" because investigations were in progress. But he was categorical that he would take "stern action" against those who were found guilty, because they were "enemies of the state." The president's statement thus serves to clarify the issue after weeks of "debriefing" of some of the country's top nuclear scientists, including Dr A.Q. Khan, "the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb", and Mohammad Faruq, the Director-General of the Khan Research Laboratory, besides a former army chief, Mirza Aslam Beg.

The only redeeming feature - if it can be called that - is the president's statement that individual scientists had acted on their own and that at no stage was the government itself involved. This point also emerges from what Mohammad ElBaradei said. Speaking at Davos, Switzerland, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency said that only individuals were involved in these deals and he would not like to "jump to conclusions" and blame a government.

For the people of Pakistan the entire episode has assumed the form of a scandal. That many countries envied Pakistan's nuclear expertise and were keen to acquire it was known to them. They had also believed in their government's repeated denials of the charge of proliferation which had off and on surfaced in the western media and think-tanks. In fact, the denials were categorical and were apparently accepted by western governments, including the American.

What has surprised, even shocked, the Pakistani public, media and the intelligentsia is the extent of the laxity and incompetence shown in the matter by the government, more especially the top generals who were directly entrusted with the responsibility of controlling and guarding the nuclear research programme. What was Pakistan's pampered and over-staffed intelligence set-up doing when "some" scientists were going about marketing their nuclear knowhow? It is the same intelligence set-up that keeps a close eye on foreign and Pakistani journalists and maintains dossiers on opposition politicians.

That such a powerful intelligence outfit - often regarded as an invisible government - did not know what Pakistan's nuclear community was doing is indeed shocking beyond belief. The Pakistani people may attribute this lapse to incompetence but not foreign governments and agencies which might well conclude that sections of those who were in command were not above suspicion.

The "stern action" the president has spoken about will, no doubt, be taken against the erring scientists, whatever their motives. But it is disturbing that the government went public with some facts only after foreign media had blown the whistle. In other words, if these nuclear shenanigans had not been disclosed by western sources, our government would have kept the Pakistani people in the dark about it and possibly itself remained in the dark about what was going on. The whole unpleasant episode has done enormous harm not only to the government's credibility but to the very image of Pakistan.

Pakistan's nuclear expertise is something the people of Pakistan are proud of. Opposed to nuclear proliferation, the US tolerated Pakistan's nuclear programme because this country was playing a crucial role in the US-led 'jihad' against Soviet occupation in Afghanistan. Tested in 1998 following similar tests by India, Pakistan's nuclear deterrence is strictly meant for this country's defence.

Given the nature of Indo-Pakistan relations and the history of three wars, the US and most western governments understand the reasons why Islamabad had to seek nuclear deterrence. Opinion in Pakistan wholly shares the world's concern about the dangers inherent in the proliferation of nuclear knowhow. Islamabad must take the fullest care never to let the slightest of suspicion of being a proliferator fall on Pakistan.

Meanwhile, what has been learnt in 'debriefings' should be laid before parliament. 'Debriefing' normally does not and should not mean interrogation. Nobody, least of all our nuclear scientists, of whom we have so far been proud, should be harassed and humiliated on a mere suspicion. The persons concerned are answerable under the laws of Pakistan, and those asking them questions should be Pakistanis - and Pakistanis alone.

There should be absolutely no question, as the Lahore High Court has ruled, of handing those who are in custody over to any foreign agency; nor do we need any foreign "friends" nosing around as the process of 'debriefing' continues.

Cooperation with Turkey

The signing of a blueprint for a Preferential Trade Agreement between Pakistan and Turkey and the decision to set up a joint investment company that would institutionalize trade ties are long overdue steps. While the two countries have enjoyed excellent political and cultural relations for several decades now, what is surprising is that these historic ties have not translated into better trade and economic cooperation. For the past five years, trade between Pakistan and Turkey has hovered around $160 million, which is quite low by any standard.

Turkish investment in Pakistan has also been comparatively insignificant. This state of affairs cannot continue for too long as there is much that Pakistan and Turkey can do to widen their economic and trade cooperation for mutual benefit. There is tremendous potential for marketing Turkish products in Pakistan and vice versa. Keeping all these factors in mind, President Musharraf expressed the desire on his recent visit to Turkey to make it possible to enhance the volume of trade to one billion dollars in the next two years or so.

The Pakistan government also wants more investment from Turkish businessmen in the coming two years. This is indeed an ambitious plan that can only be fulfilled if the right conditions for it are created and maintained in both countries.

One significant way to give the needed impetus to businessmen in the two countries would be to ensure that any outstanding issues of difference or dispute are sorted out. One such matter is the dispute between the Pakistan government and a Turkish construction firm, Bayinder. This should be resolved in a manner that is acceptable to all the parties concerned.

The resolution of this dispute, which has dragged on for too long and which is linked to the construction of the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway, would give Turkish investors the right signals about doing business in Pakistan. As things stand, several Turkish companies are said to be keen on investing and working in infrastructure sectors like in the Mangla Dam raising project. Turkish investment need not be restricted to these mega projects.

Turkish firms could also be persuaded to participate in the on-going privatization programme in Pakistan. Now that the groundwork has been laid for better economic cooperation, the next step should be the removal of irritants that have unduly added a negative dimension to what is essentially a very positive sense of goodwill and understanding between the two countries.