Osama incident not to deter China's nuclear aid to Pak; Gilani to visit Bj next week
BEIJING: Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who is visiting Beijing next week, is expected to take away an assurance that the Osama killing incident will not disturb China's assistance in building another nuclear plant in his country, sources said.
Gilani's visit is meant to reassure China that Pakistan's nuclear safety arrangements will not be affected by signs of security lapses evident in Osama's long and undisturbed stay near Islamabad. There are signs he may succeed to some extent.
On Monday, China's National Energy Administration issued a two-line statement saying it will resume approval for nuclear projects in early August. It will also release in August a Nuclear Safety Plan, which had been promised immediately after the accident at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Masood Khan, Pakistan's ambassador in Beijing said today the Fukushima accident will not affect China's civil nuclear cooperation with Pakistan. "Even after the accident in Japan, China conducted comprehensive stress tests," Khan said suggesting he has received some assurances from Chinese officials on the matter.
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao signed an initial agreement to help Pakistan build a one gigawatt nuclear reactor in Chashma, the 3rd one being planned at the site, during his Islamabad visit last December.
Though the May 1 incident showed that sections of Pakistani military were sheltering Bin Laden for over six years, both the Chinese and Pakistani governments have refrained from discussing the risk posed to nuclear safety in Pakistan.
The Chinese foreign ministry extended all out support to Islamabad immediately after the May 1 killing partly because it needs the neighbor's help to contain the separatist movement in its western province of Xingjian bordering Pakistan.
"Can Pakistan really be trusted on the subject of 'Islamic' terror? The Pakistani defense establishment is totally fixated on maintaining links with terror groups and radical groups to advance its interests in both Afghanistan and India," Walter Russell Mead, a professor of foreign affairs and humanities at Bard College in New York, said in an article.
But "Pakistan and China could cut a deal" if Islamabad is able to show it will tolerate and promote terror groups aimed at India which ruthlessly destroying terrorists causing trouble in the Chinese province of Xingjian, he said.
Gilani's visit is meant to reassure China that Pakistan's nuclear safety arrangements will not be affected by signs of security lapses evident in Osama's long and undisturbed stay near Islamabad. There are signs he may succeed to some extent.
On Monday, China's National Energy Administration issued a two-line statement saying it will resume approval for nuclear projects in early August. It will also release in August a Nuclear Safety Plan, which had been promised immediately after the accident at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Masood Khan, Pakistan's ambassador in Beijing said today the Fukushima accident will not affect China's civil nuclear cooperation with Pakistan. "Even after the accident in Japan, China conducted comprehensive stress tests," Khan said suggesting he has received some assurances from Chinese officials on the matter.
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao signed an initial agreement to help Pakistan build a one gigawatt nuclear reactor in Chashma, the 3rd one being planned at the site, during his Islamabad visit last December.
Though the May 1 incident showed that sections of Pakistani military were sheltering Bin Laden for over six years, both the Chinese and Pakistani governments have refrained from discussing the risk posed to nuclear safety in Pakistan.
The Chinese foreign ministry extended all out support to Islamabad immediately after the May 1 killing partly because it needs the neighbor's help to contain the separatist movement in its western province of Xingjian bordering Pakistan.
"Can Pakistan really be trusted on the subject of 'Islamic' terror? The Pakistani defense establishment is totally fixated on maintaining links with terror groups and radical groups to advance its interests in both Afghanistan and India," Walter Russell Mead, a professor of foreign affairs and humanities at Bard College in New York, said in an article.
But "Pakistan and China could cut a deal" if Islamabad is able to show it will tolerate and promote terror groups aimed at India which ruthlessly destroying terrorists causing trouble in the Chinese province of Xingjian, he said.
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