Islamabad: Pakistan hopes that France will provide it technical assistance for the peaceful use of nuclear power to meet its energy requirements, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said today.

During a meeting with Admiral Edouard Guillaud, the Military Joint Chief of Staff to the French President, Gilani said Pakistan attaches importance to its relations with France, which is among its leading trade and development partners in the European Union. Welcoming France's statement that every country has the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful civilian purposes, Gilani expressed the hope that "France will extend its technical assistance to Pakistan in this field for meeting its energy requirement", an official statement said.

Pakistan has stepped up its efforts to obtain nuclear technology and know-how since India and the US have moved closer to inking a civilian nuclear deal. Pakistan has said it will seek a similar deal from the US and that no discrimination should be shown by the world community in this regard. Gilani also said the strategic consultations between Pakistan and France should be resumed soon to take their relationship to "new heights".

Pakistan is seeking greater market access to the EU, preferably in the form of a free trade agreement, especially since the EU has started FTA negotiations with India and other countries in South Asia. "Leaving out Pakistan is discriminatory," Gilani said. Gilani said defence cooperation between Pakistan and France too has progressed satisfactorily and Pakistan now has the largest fleet of Mirage III and V combat jets. He appreciated the French assistance for assembling an Agosta submarine in Pakistan and expressed the hope that this cooperation would be expanded in future.

Source : PTI