Islamabad: Pakistan has voiced serious reservations about a newly signed uranium supply deal between Canada and India, alongside plans for collaboration on small modular reactors and advanced nuclear technologies. Officials described the arrangement as a selective concession that undermines equitable civilian nuclear cooperation.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi highlighted the irony of Canada granting India special access, recalling India’s 1974 nuclear test, which used plutonium produced from a Canadian reactor intended for peaceful purposes—a test that ultimately prompted the formation of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
Andrabi noted that not all of India’s civilian nuclear facilities are under International Atomic Energy Agency oversight, and the deal provides unclear or potentially no non-proliferation guarantees.
He warned that reliable access to external uranium could free India’s domestic uranium for military use, allowing it to expand fissile material reserves, accelerate nuclear arsenal growth, and worsen strategic imbalances in South Asia.
The FO spokesperson also criticized Canada, stating the agreement conflicts with its commitments under the global nuclear non-proliferation framework. He stressed that civilian nuclear cooperation should follow a non-discriminatory, criteria-based approach applied equally to all countries outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Selective exemptions, Andrabi cautioned, weaken the credibility of international non-proliferation efforts and risk further destabilizing regional and global security.
