ISLAMABAD -- China's agreement to supply a second 300-megawatt nuclear power reactor to Pakistan encourages Islamabad's ruling establishment, which is eager to develop the country's nuclear energy potential in a significant way. The deal for the new reactor, to be located at Chashma in central Punjab -- next to the first Chinese reactor of a similar size already built -- follows recent reports of U.S. pressure on China to delay the agreement.
In recent months, Pakistan's nuclear program has been under the global spotlight following revelations that Abdul Qadeer Khan, the so-called father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, sold knowhow and technology to Iran, Libya and, possibly, North Korea. The Pakistani government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf must draw satisfaction from Beijing's apparent decision to ignore some of the pressures brought on it to withhold future nuclear deals with Islamabad.
The next stage in Pakistan's pursuit of nuclear reactors may be preliminary talks with China on a third reactor, expected to be built in Karachi, the southern port city -- alongside the Canadian-supplied Karachi Nuclear Power Project.