India has said it is committed to a no-first nuclear use policy. Mr Inamul Haque added that NATO maintained a first-use threat to deter a Soviet attack during the Cold War. At the time, NATO worried about the possibility of an overwhelming conventional ground attack on western Europe. Speaking to journalists before a meeting with his German counterpart Wolfgang Ischinger, he defended Pakistan's development of nuclear weapons.
Nuclear weapons are weapons of deterrence.
Mr Inamul Haque said the military takeover was a necessary reaction to what he called deposed prime minister Sharif's efforts to build a dictatorship in the country, but added the military leaders would restore democracy by 2002. In the meantime they needed outside financial help, he said. This is not a very large figure. The European Union condemned the military coup in October and suspended a new cooperation pact in protest.