Pak, US started dialogue on nuke deal: Zardari

Pakistan appears to be reconciled to a long haul in clinching a civil nuclear deal with the US with President Asif Ali Zardari today saying it took nine years for India to secure an atomic pact with Washington.

Addressing participants of a security course at the National Defence University, Zardari said Pakistan and the US have started dialogue on civil nuclear cooperation but he noted that it had taken India nine years to seal a civil nuclear deal with the US.

His remarks come against the backdrop of last week's US-Pak strategic dialogue during which Washington did not give a clear commitment to Islamabad on its demand for a civil nuclear deal similar to the Indo-US atomic pact.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had last week noted that it took several years of strategic dialogue for India and US to conclude a deal on the civil nuclear field.

Zardari said Pakistan desires peaceful co-existence with all its neighbours and the government will never let the country be taken hostage by non-state actors and forced into a war.

The government is focussing on a policy of reconciliation and tolerance and "would never let the country be taken hostage by non-state actors and forced (into) going into a war", Zardari said.

He said the "best scenario" for terrorists is to be able to operate freely in a "no state" environment, where their structure overpowers the state structure.