New Delhi: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ruled out the possibility of forging a nuclear deal with Pakistan citing "concerns" over Pakistan's proliferation record.
"Everyone knows that there have been concerns in terms of proliferation with Pakistan. Pakistan itself is aware of it. We are working with Pakistan to improve on proliferation," Rice said in an interview to a television channel.
However, she said that Washington considered Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf as a tremendous ally in the war on terrorism. "We must fight terror more robustly. We are working with General Musharraf in areas which are largely ungoverned. Pakistani army and its frontier forces are fighting Al Qaeda more actively," she said.
Parrying a question on the Indo-Iran gas pipeline, Rice said both India and the US were very dependent on hydrocarbons for energy supplies and President Bush now favoured allowing all countries to have "clean nuclear energy and civilian nuclear power, regardless of what happens to the pipeline".
Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf also addressed a press conference after the nuclear deal between India and US was signed.
"Every country has national interests and they will plan their strategy accordingly. US is also doing that. Our job should be to know what interest others will have in us. We should keep up the good relationship with US as it is a unipolar world," he said.
(With PTI inputs)
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