The government welcomes Pakistan's pledge to sign the global nuclear test ban treaty but still needs to monitor further development before easing sanctions against the nation, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Thursday.
He made the remarks in response to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's pledge at a United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York that his nation will sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by the end of September 1999. "We highly appreciate that Pakistan expressed its intention to participate in the international efforts to ban nuclear tests," Nonaka said.
Asked whether Japan is ready to remove sanctions against Pakistan, however, he said, "We would like to see further steps toward the signing of the treaty as well as the nation's positive response to our other demands."