Pak won't embark on arms race -- Musharraf

Pak won't embark on arms race -- Musharraf
ASSOCIATED PRESS

ISLAMABAD, JUNE 26: General Pervez Musharraf on Monday said Pakistan would not negotiate its nuclear deterrence, nor would his nation embark on a costly nuclear arms race with India.

"We only want to maintain a minimum credible deterrence to deter any aggression against our homeland," the state run news agency quoted Musharraf as saying.

"We will not enter into a nuclear arms race with India and never will we subject our people to economic deprivation," he told a university graduating class. Pakistan and India exploded underground nuclear devices in 1998.

Musharraf told the 25th International Nathiagali Summer College on Physics and Contemporary Needs that Pakistan supports a "strategic self-restraint regime" in South Asia.

"We fully support the creation of a strategic self-restraint regime on the subcontinent and expect a positive response from our neighbor," he was quoted as saying.