Though urging global nuclear disarmament, India refused to sign the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. After New Delhi's test blasts earlier this month, Prime Minister Jean Chr tien joined in the chorus of condemnation of India but was adamant that Canada bore no responsibility for India's nuclear program. Chr tien said. Some experts and anti-nuclear activists disagree. Pakistan's atomic development took off in 1975 with the return of Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, a German-trained metallurgist who has led the country's nuclear program since.
China is said to have supplied Pakistan with enriched uranium and a bomb design.
Last year, China promised the United States it would halt all but peaceful nuclear co-operation with Islamabad. In exchange, President Bill Clinton certified China as co-operating on nonproliferation, thus paving the way for U.S. reactor deals with Beijing potentially worth billions.