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U.S. President Barack Obama met Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the White House on Thursday to stress concerns about Pakistan’s expanding nuclear arsenal and seek help in bringing the Afghan Taliban back to peace talks.
Washington has been trying to persuade Pakistan to make a unilateral declaration of “restraint” over its nuclear program but Pakistani officials said Sharif would tell Obama Islamabad will not accept limits on its use of small tactical nuclear weapons, given the threat posed by India.
A joint statement after the White House meeting referred to nuclear security and said both leaders had stressed the need for “all sides” to act with restraint and work towards strategic stability in South Asia.
It also said Obama and Sharif expressed their commitment to advance the Afghan peace and reconciliation process and called on Taliban leaders to enter direct talks with Kabul, which have staled since inaugural discussions in Pakistan in July.
The 14-year Taliban insurgency has escalated since tens of thousands of U.S.-led NATO combat troops withdrew ahead of an end-2014 deadline, hampering Obama’s efforts to withdraw remaining U.S. troops.
Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center think tank said that as well as seeking Pakistan’s help on the talks, Obama would have stressed the need for it to do away with militant sanctuaries inside its borders used as bases from which to target the U.S.-backed Afghan government and U.S. forces.
“Obama knows that a political solution is needed to end the Afghan war, and for that you need help from the Pakistanis,” he said.However, Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution said it was not clear Sharif had the clout with his own army to get military leaders to pressure the Taliban back into talks.
Despite the tensions, the Obama administration sees Pakistan as vital to regional and global security and is preparing to sell Islamabad eight F-16 fighter jets in a bid to bolster ties, a U.S. source familiar with the matter said.
The joint statement made no mention of the sale, which Congress could block, but said Sharif “expressed satisfaction with the cooperation achieved in defence relations.”
U.S. concerns have been growing about Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal amid a fresh round of tensions between Islamabad and India, Pakistan’s nuclear-armed rival and neighbour.
Pakistan insists smaller tactical nuclear weapons would deter a sudden attack by India, but Washington worries they may further destabilize an already volatile region because their smaller size makes them more tempting to use in a conventional war – and harder to prevent from falling into militant hands.
The statement said the two leaders discussed the continuing threat of nuclear terrorism and stressed the importance of improvement in Pakistan-India relations.
“The two leaders underscored that all sides should continuously act with maximum restraint and work jointly toward strengthening strategic stability in South Asia,” it said.
Pakistani officials say Washington is demanding unreasonable limits on its nuclear weapons while not offering much in return apart from a hazy promise to consider Pakistan as a recognised recipient of nuclear technology.
The Federation of American Scientists said this week that since 2011, Pakistan had deployed two new nuclear-capable short-range ballistic missiles and a new medium-range ballistic missile and was developing two extended-range nuclear-capable ballistic missiles and two nuclear-capable cruise missiles.
It estimated Pakistan’s stockpile had grown to 110 to 130 warheads from 90 to 110 in 2011 and could reach 220 to 250 by 2025, making it the world’s fifth-largest nuclear-weapons state.
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