Ex-US defence secy attends moot

By Anjum Gill

LAHORE: Former US defence secretary Robert Mc Namara attended a two-day Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs that opened in the provincial metropolis on Thursday.

Mr Mc Namara had been the World Bank and CIA chief. The subject of the conference is ‘Avoiding an India-Pakistan Nuclear Confrontation’.

Talking to newsmen, Pugwash secretary general Prof Paolo Cotta Ramusino did not disclose the names of the participants, saying, “Their names are being kept in low profile in order to avoid any unnecessary strain on them.”

When asked whether any serving government official participated in the meeting, he replied in negative. He replied in affirmative when asked about the retired officials.

However, sources said that former Army chief Gen Jehangir Karamat, Gen (retd) Mirza Aslam Beg, former Foreign Affairs secretaries Najam-ud-Din Sheikh and Abdul Sattar attended the meeting. Foreign Affairs spokesman Aziz Ahmed also attended the meeting as “a silent observer” besides some high-ranking serving officials, sources disclosed. Admiral (retd) Ram Dass attended the conference from the Indian side.

Prof Ramusino, nevertheless, said the names of participants would be made public on the website of Pugwash shortly.

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