Indo-US Civil Nuclear Deal & Pakistan Security
Tauqeer Hussain Sargana
International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan.
Mujahid Hussain
Bahria University Islamabad, Pakistan.
Abstract
The ‘Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation’ has casted negative shadows over Pakistan’s security with that of strategic stability in South Asia. This paper makes the point that the emergence of strategic partnership between Indian and US has served bilateral objectives while impacting deeply on the geo-political landscape of Pakistan’s strategic interests. The fundamental strategic objective of Pakistan has been to resist Indian hegemonic role in the region. To achieve such a balance the country has not only joined security alliances in the past but had to detonate its nuclear weapons in reaction to Indian attempt to outburst the ‘balance of power’. Due to Indo-US nuclear cooperation, suddenly Pakistan came under stress as it allowed India to feed its civilian reactors by importing fuel from international market with that of using domestic fuel in its military reactors. This not only allowed India to fix energy shortfall but also sustain its nuclear weapons program. Pakistan contrary to that was set-aside and denied the similar treatment as of India. Therefore, this paper has made an attempt to objectively analyze the premises of Indo-US nuclear cooperation and highlight security implications for Pakistan. The study is deductive in nature and has used mixed method approach with qualitative research methodology.
