US has no intention to control Pakistan's N-arsenal: Gates

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 22 (PTI): US has no intention to control or grab Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and was not seeking any military bases in the country, American defence secretary Robert Gates has said.
Rounding off his two day visit here, Gates who met Pakistan's civil and military leaders and addressed close door meetings with intelligence and army officers told them that US has no designs in Pakistan's nuclear weapons.
His assurances come in the wake of widespread fear in the West about Islamabad's nuclear arsenal falling into terrorist hands.
Gates in his meetings stressed that Pakistan would have to go whole hog to eliminate terrorist havens along its restive border with Afghanistan, But said "the Pakistani leadership will make its own decisions" about when and where to undertake military campaigns.
But he said that fighting terrorists along the Afghan border was as much in Pakistan's interest as in United States.
Meanwhile: The United States plans to provide Pakistan with a dozen unarmed drone aircraft that will help bolster its military as it takes on Taliban militants, US defence officials said.
Details of the drones emerged late Thursday during a visit to Pakistan by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was asked in an interview with Pakistani television if Washington would supply Islamabad with the unmanned aircraft.
Defence officials in his delegation afterward confirmed funds had been set aside to secure 12 Shadow aerial drones for Pakistan.