Washington:
Pakistan is critical to the theme of President Obama's nuclear security summit--to prevent nuclear weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists. Pakistani PM Gilani will today address the summit and spell out Pakistan's nuclear policy to the world.
The nuclear armed country's first civilian prime minister in more than a decade is taking on a mammoth challenge, to raise the international community's confidence in Pakistan's ability to protect its nuclear assets.
Lisa Curtis, South Asia Expert of The Heritage Foundation says, "When you think about the possible intersection of terrorism and nuclear weapons obviously Pakistan is a country that comes to mind."
Then there's the 2003 revelations of the selling of nuclear technology by the father of its nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan.
"Perhaps secretly we have had access to A Q Khan but officially we have never been able to even question him and that grates", says Ivan Oelrich, Vice President, Strategic Security Program, Federation of American Scientists.
With Washington dependent on the Pakistani military to support it in the war in Afghanistan an emboldened Pakistan has demanded a nuclear deal along the lines of the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement.
Brig. Naeem Salik, Former Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Affairs, SPD, Pakistan says, "Obviously, if Pakistan's cooperation is needed then Pakistan cannot at the same time be the victim, the target and at the same time a partner. People have to acknowledge the positive things that Pakistan has done and only then they can afford to have Pakistan's full and unqualified cooperation."
Despite all the rhetoric of a new strategic partnership between Islamabad and Washington the much coveted prize of a civilian nuclear deal seems rather unlikely but when PM Gilani takes the podium at the Nuclear summit today he will have the world's attention.