France offers civilian nuke deal to Pakistan

France on Friday offered Pakistan civilian nuclear technology to meet its growing energy requirements, overlooking global concerns over Islamabad's poor non-proliferation record.

"France has agreed to transfer civilian nuclear technology to Pakistan. The two countries have agreed in principle on the move," Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said, after President Asif Ali Zardari held talks his with French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris.

The negotiations regarding the transfer of civil nuclear technology will be held in July this year and a new framework agreement and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is likely to be signed during the visit of the French President to Pakistan in September, Qureshi was quoted as saying by APP news agency.

Pakistan had earlier requested the United States to offer a similar civil nuclear deal it had signed with India.

However, Washington rebuffed Islamabad's plea citing its poor nuclear non-proliferation track record.

The US has expressed serious concern over the proliferation activities of Pakistan's disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan, who transferred sensitive technology to countries like North Korea and Iran.