Wednesday, May 11 2005 20:32 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Singapore: Pakistan's Prime Minister said today (May 11, 2005) his nation's nuclear arsenal has become a key deterrent against India and has helped keep the peace in South Asia.

"Nuclear deterrence has now become indispensable to our security and a factor of peace and stability in the region," Shaukat Aziz said in Singapore. "However, we are opposed to an arms race and will maintain deterrence at the minimum credible level."

Aziz said the Kashmir issue "cannot be put on the backburner or wished away."

He said Pakistan was forced into the nuclear option after India's nuclear tests in 1998.

"In 2002, when India mobilized one million troops along our borders, nuclear deterrence forced India to hold back and review its policy of escalation which then led to the current improvement in relations," Aziz said in a speech on security.

Since wide-ranging peace efforts started a year and a half ago, Pakistan and India have restored transportation links including buses between Lahore and New Delhi, and a historic service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, and air and rail travel.

Aziz is on a three-day official visit to Singapore, and leaves tomorrow.

He had earlier witnessed the signing of a agreement between Singapore and Pakistan to jointly battle transnational crime and terrorism. The two countries will also begin negotiations on a free trade pact in June.