Click to play videoA letter written by Pakistani atomic scientist A Q Khan has allegedly revealed the country's nexus with the controversial nuclear programmes of Iran, North Korea and Libya. Several embarrassing questions are now being raised for the Pakistani establishment. Joining CNN-IBN on Talking Point to try and answer some of these questions were Pakistan's Ambassador to United Kingdom, Wajid Shamsul Hasan - who was a close aide of late Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto; and former Indian diplomat, K C Singh.
CNN-IBN: A Q Khan's revelations have come as a big embarrassment because he is specifically saying that he did deliver some of this nuclear equipment to Iran on instructions of Benazir Bhutto. Where does that leave the Pakistani establishment? Should we take it as the rantings of a frustrated nuclear scientist or is it Pakistan's lie exposed?
K C Singh: It's not so much what A Q Khan is saying. We have known much of it ourselves, some of it is dissimulation. This Benazir Bhutto thing is incorrect because A Q Khan had started the cooperation when Zia-ul-Haq was still alive and Benazir came in only after Zia's death. Zia may have known about it. But all evidence is that during her first term as prime minister, Benazir did not have the army on her side, they were not taking her into confidence. It was Generals Hamid Gul and Mirza Aslam Baig who were handling the military affairs. There was no question of them sharing anything with Benazir, but that is not significant. What is significant is how has this information come out and why now, because this is a letter which A Q Khan had purportedly prepared, it was his safety check. Of course he is frustrated and unhappy, but this letter surfacing at this time - is it the West having a scoop and then putting pressure on Pakistan? I don't see A Q Khan gaining anything by going public at this stage.
CNN-IBN: It does seem as if the President Zardari government is specifically in a particularly difficult situation now because after all, they are the ones who withdrew all the restrictions on A Q Khan. They now face a situation in a Pakistan where A Q Khan is still very much seen as a national hero.
K C Singh: I don't think A Q Khan will go public at the moment unless he has an impression that it is imminent he will be handed over to the Americans for interrogation. I don't think there is any danger of that. But it helps the Americans in embarrassing Pakistan, particularly when the Chinese statement comes in. That is significant because embarrassing China at this stage is good for putting pressure on Iran. The Americans need that for getting sanctions on Iran if Iran does not engage in a meaningful dialogue on the nuclear issue.
CNN-IBN: India has remained very quiet at the moment. Do you think India should be more vocal in its protests, particularly with the UN General Assembly coming up?
K C Singh: I think it's good to wait and watch. Let US react to it and let us see what they do. We are not a member of the UN Security Council. Perhaps it is best to just watch at the moment.
CNN-IBN: Mr Hasan, how embarrassing is this letter - which was leaked to a British daily - to Pakistan?
Wajid Shamsul Hasan: It's just a report. We have not confirmed it and neither has Dr A Q Khan. It could be some sort of a compile by a journalist who has written this at a time when President Zardari is going to visit the US to embarrass Pakistan. I think it is not appropriate to comment at this time because that chapter is closed and A Q Khan is in the past.
CNN-IBN: But Mr Hasan, the letter is very detailed and gives explanations of all that had happened over the last decade.We can question the timing, but the contents of the letter is something Pakistan can't run away from.
Wajid Shamsul Hasan: Whatever little I have read of that letter, I have seen that there is a factual mistake. Benazir Bhutto as far as I know - and I was very close to her - never indulged in these sort of things. She never supported proliferation. She as a matter of fact opposed it tooth and nail and during her two tenures, no proliferation took place. Dr A Q Khan has tried to involve her in that - supposedly. I don't think much of it, because in the past Dr Khan has never tried to involve Benazir in any of these proliferation things.
CNN-IBN: The letter very clearly mentions Brigadier Imtiaz who was Benazir Bhutto's defence advisor for a short period of time and says it was he who gave the instructions.
Wajid Shamsul Hasan: No he was not in a position to give any instructions because she was very clear on proliferation of nuclear material. In fact, she had come up with her own doctrine which said that no nuclear proliferation will take place during her time. There were suggestions made to her but she had opposed them. She had never allowed anything of that sort to happen and Dr A Q Khan knows this much too well.
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