In an oblique reference to the Indo-United States civilian nuclear cooperation, Pakistan on Wednesday said that Islamabad has as much civilian nuclear energy need as any other country and thus it expects 'an equal treatment of domestic laws'.

Delivering a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that there is no denying facts about the potential contribution Pakistan can make to global non-proliferation, but it can only be realised in a framework of 'non-selectivity and non-discrimination'.

"We, thus, expect an equal treatment of domestic laws, or international regimes are adjusted to allow civil nuclear energy cooperation with any non-NPT country," Aziz said. "Our energy needs are no less than those of any other country."

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In his 20-minute address to the council, Aziz also tried to convince the audience that there is an evolving democracy in Pakistan and that Islamabad can work along with the United States not only to strengthen global efforts to curb spread of weapons of mass destruction, but also to prevent a destructive nuclear and missile arms race in South Asia.

Saying that Pakistan was not responsible for nuclear proliferation in South Asia, Aziz said that Pakistan equally shares the objective of avoiding a conflict in South Asia that could escalate to the nuclear level.

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In response to a question whether Pakistan supports taking Iran to the United Nations Security Council to stop Teheran from developing nuclear weapons, Aziz said while Islamabad is against proliferation in any form, it also believes that every country has the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes under International Atomic Energy Agency guidelines and safeguards.

"We believe rather than going to the Security Council, the IAEA may be a better forum to solve this issue (through) dialogue and discussion. We are against the use of force to settle this issue," Aziz said.