US asked Pak to ink NSA accord with India to secure civil N-cooperation deal: Cable

WASHINGTON - The United States had put a major condition on Pakistan for securing nuclear cooperation with it on the lines of the US-India pact, a diplomatic cable unveiled by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks has revealed.

According to the leaked cable, during a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari in 2009, US Senator John Kerry placed a condition on Pakistan that the latter would have to ink a ‘New Security Arrangement’ accord with neighbour India, if it wanted civil nuclear cooperation with the US, The News reported.

Kerry also urged Pakistan to first strengthen its democratic institutions for the purpose, the leaked memos of the US diplomatic cable revealed.

He said that the AQ Khan network was the key hurdle in the way of Pakistan’s progress.

During the same sitting, Zardari told Kerry that India itself had plotted the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008. (ANI)