Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and Pakistan's foreign minister, Kurshid
Mahmud Kasuri, Monday discussed the potential for expanded cooperation on
energy issues between the US and Pakistan, the US Dept of Energy said. Their
talks included a number of topics, among them clean coal technology, renewable
energy and energy efficiency. Nuclear energy, however, was not discussed.
Secretary Bodman and Foreign Minister Kasuri discussed key issues and
the next steps for collaboration in the energy sector,DOE said. The
Pakistan side briefed the US delegation on the country's energy needs and
possible alternative sources, including [hydropower], gas, coal, nuclear and
renewables. The US private sector will be important to helping Pakistan
achieve its energy objectives, and the United States will consult with its
energy sector on Pakistan's energy needs.
The visit to Pakistan, part of a four-country trip for Bodman this week,
followed one President George W. Bush made to Islamabad earlier this month.
Bush and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf signed a joint statement
launching a US-Pakistan Strategic Partnership to promote stability in South
Asia. As part of that agreement, Bush and Musharraf said they would explore
ways to meet Pakistan's growing energy needs, including establishing an energy
working group.
Bush went to Pakistan after visiting India and signing an agreement to
help India expand its civilian nuclear energy sector.
The US and Pakistan have an uneasy relationship on nuclear issues in
light of Pakistan's reputation on nonproliferation. Pakistan's leading nuclear
engineer, Abdul Qadeer Khan, has admitted selling nuclear technology to Iran,
Libya and North Korea.
Bodman also is scheduled this week to travel to Kazakhstan and
Russia -- where he will lead the US delegation to the G8 Energy Ministerial --
as well as Hungary.
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