"In view of the fact that the agreement would enable India to produce significant quantities of fissile material and nuclear weapons from un-safeguarded nuclear reactors, the NCA expressed firm resolve that our credible minimum deterrence requirements will be met," the statement said.

The United States last month agreed to give India access to nuclear technology in exchange for separating its civil and military atomic programmes and placing a majority of its reactors under international inspection.

Pakistan, a key US ally in its so-called war on terror, has demanded a similar nuclear deal.

Pakistan is at the centre of probes into a nuclear black market run by its disgraced nuclear hero Abdul Qadeer Khan, who confessed in 2004 to passing atomic secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

The NCA, set up by Musharraf four months after he grabbed power in a military coup in October 1999, controls the country's nuclear establishment and army and air force strategic command.

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