Islamabad: Rejecting as "figment of imagination" the US charge that Pakistan has indulged in proliferation of nuclear technology, Islamabad has said the new set of sanctions clamped by Washington on a key Pakistani laboratory would not affect the country's nuclear programme.

Pakistan preferred US to provide evidence to substantiate its allegation of proliferation by Islamabad, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said reacting to the sanctions imposed by Washington on Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) which co-ordinated Pakistani nuclear and missile programme.

He said Pakistan's nuclear programme is of defensive nature and was developed to "prevent India from committing aggression".

Accusing India of being responsible for the arms race in the region, he said, "Pakistan would not be deterred to supplement the defensive needs of its armed forces, as India was responsible for arms race in the region."

Kasuri also denied the sanctions on KRL was a prelude by the US to target Pakistan after its war on Iraq, saying, "We are not the next target as we are a responsible state."

Dismissing reports that Pakistan faced pressure from US to roll back its nuclear programme, he said, "There is no American pressure. We would not accept any pressure from any source when it comes to meeting our Defence needs. Our nuclear programme is purely for defence and we are not involved in any kind of such proliferation."

His comments came as the US Embassy in Islamabad issued a statement notifying the sanctions against KRL.

PTI