Saturday, March 18 2006 15:28 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: After failing to secure a nuclear deal, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said the agreement between India and the US was 'disturbing' as it would upset the balance of power in the region.

Musharraf made these remarks in a brief reference to the Indian deal during an address to soldiers at Bhawalpur yesterday.

Musharraf's comments are part of an aggressive campaign by Pakistan's foreign policy establishment which is critical of the deal.

During his recent visit to Islamabad, US President George W Bush had ruled out a civilian nuclear deal for Pakistan.

Musharraf also said that Pakistan was fulfilling its defence needs with the Chinese cooperation. The country's nuclear arsenals are in safe hands and there is no need to worry about it, he was quoted as saying by 'The News' daily today(Mar 18,2006).

Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri told the 'Financial Times' earlier that the Indo-US nuclear deal would lead to the collapse of international agreements aimed atpreventing the spread of nuclear weapons while the Foreign Office said in a statement last night that the grant of 'special status' to India by Washington would have 'serious implications' for South Asia leading to an arms race.

Pakistan has been maintaining that it is in touch withChina to secure nuclear power plants.