Qureshi with Clinton in Washington. (Reuters)

Washington, March 25 (Reuters): Pakistan’s foreign minister today said his delegation had “very satisfactory” talks with Washington on civilian nuclear cooperation and that the case of scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan was “behind us”.

Pakistan is pressing for a nuclear cooperation arrangement similar to one India has with the US. However, Washington has so far been reluctant to enter into any formal talks on the issue.

Foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told Reuters in an interview that meetings with US officials on nuclear cooperation, nonproliferation and export controls had gone well. “I am quite satisfied with the discussions we had,” Qureshi said when asked about the nuclear cooperation issue. “I would not like to expand on it at this stage.”

He added that “the talks were very satisfactory” but declined to specify the kind of cooperation Pakistan sought.

Washington has been dubious about talks on sharing nuclear technology, partly because of fears it would upset India but also because of concerns over the case of Abdul Qadeer Khan who transferred nuclear secrets to North Korea, Iraq and Iran. “I think that is behind us,” Qureshi said when asked about Khan. “I think they understand the new command-control structures we have in place.”