Washington: Pakistan emerged as a central nuclear proliferation concern in private talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush, according to newly released transcripts that show both leaders warning of uranium of Pakistani origin turning up in Iran’s nuclear program and expressing deep unease over Islamabad’s control of its atomic assets.
The transcripts, released by the National Security Archive following a successful Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, capture unusually candid exchanges in which Washington and Moscow set aside public diplomacy to discuss what they viewed as one of the most dangerous fault lines in global nuclear security.
During the Oval Office meeting on September 29, 2005, Putin told Bush that uranium discovered in Iranian centrifuges was of Pakistani origin, a revelation that underscored long-suspected links between Islamabad’s nuclear establishment and illicit proliferation networks.
Bush immediately agreed that the finding was alarming, calling it a violation and saying it made the United States “nervous,” according to the transcripts.
“It makes us nervous, too,” Bush said, as the two leaders discussed the risks of sensitive nuclear material spreading beyond state control. Putin responded pointedly, “Think about us,” highlighting Moscow’s concern that such leaks posed a direct threat to Russian security as well.
Bush told Putin he had personally raised the issue with then-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, explaining that Washington had pressed Islamabad hard after uncovering the activities of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the architect of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program. Bush said Khan and several of his associates had been jailed or placed under house arrest, but added that the United States still wanted to know precisely what had been transferred and to whom.
“We want to know what they said,” Bush told Putin, reflecting frustration over what Washington viewed as incomplete disclosures by Pakistani authorities. The exchange suggests that even years after the A.Q. Khan network was exposed, doubts persisted at the highest levels about whether its full scope had been dismantled.
Putin, for his part, questioned why Pakistan did not face the same level of sustained international pressure as other countries accused of nuclear violations. He described Pakistan bluntly as “just a junta with nuclear weapons,” a remark that revealed Moscow’s scepticism about Western tolerance toward Islamabad despite its checkered proliferation record.
The Russian leader contrasted Pakistan’s treatment with the scrutiny directed at Iran and North Korea, both of which featured heavily in the same conversations. The transcripts show that Bush did not dispute Putin’s characterisation, instead acknowledging that Pakistan’s role in illicit transfers remained a serious concern for the United States.
The two leaders also discussed reports of ongoing cooperation between Pakistani elements and foreign nuclear programs. Putin said Russian experts believed there had been continued interaction involving Iran’s enrichment efforts, while Bush confirmed that U.S. intelligence shared similar worries.
Although Pakistan was formally a key U.S. ally in the post-9/11 war on terror, the transcripts reveal that behind closed doors, both Washington and Moscow viewed its nuclear stewardship with deep suspicion.
The documents reflect that the Pak nuclear program was not treated as an isolated problem but as part of a wider pattern of instability involving weak controls, opaque decision-making, and the potential for catastrophic leakage.
Putin repeatedly raised the dangers of nuclear weapons in the hands of regimes lacking democratic accountability, while Bush emphasised the need to prevent any further spread of sensitive technology.
The National Security Archive said the records provide “previously unavailable evidence” of the depth of concern shared privately by U.S. and Russian leaders about Pakistan, even as public statements at the time were far more restrained.
Pakistan developed its nuclear arsenal outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has long been under international scrutiny, particularly after revelations in the early 2000s that the A.Q. Khan network had supplied nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea, and Libya.
(IANS)
