Pakistan Offers To Share Nuclear Technology With Bangladesh

Bangladesh has been offered help from Pakistan for the proposed first nuclear reactor of Bangladesh, which was conceived when it was a single country but never actually took off. Alamgir Babar, Pakistan's High Commissioner to Bangladesh said on Monday that his country was ready to share the technology for civilian purposes to help tackle the great energy crisis that Bangladesh faces.

The Foreign Adviser Iftekhar A. Chowdhury has already discussed nuclear energy co-operation with Russia and China. This happened, after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently cleared Bangladesh to use nuclear power for civilian use. The Russians also showed their willingness to help Bangladesh during Chowdhury's last

Babar said that they (Pakistan) have a programme for nuclear energy already in place. They are going ahead with it, so it is now upto Bangladesh to decide what they actually want. He added that discussions over the matter could take place within the parameters of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). It is to be noted that Pakistan is not a part of the NPT, while Bangladesh is a signatory.

month visit to Moscow.

The bid to strike a civilian nuclear technology agreement has been rejected by the US. China, who is the traditional ally of Pakistan has also not obliged, being governed by the IAEA and the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers' Group Bangladesh too has sought help from China. The project was conceived during the Ayub Khan era in the year 1961 to be located at Rooppur in Northern Bangladesh' Pabna distri

Many countries including the Britain and the United States, France and Canada had earlier shown interest in the project when Bangladesh was part of Pakistan. And after the independence of Bangladesh, India too seemed keen but the project however, somehow did not quite materialize.

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