ISLAMABAD, May 2 (Xinhuanet) -- In response to a renewed Japanese demand for signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Pakistan said on Sunday it would join the global NPT only after its recognition as a nuclear state, the local news paper The Nation reported on Monday.

    Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who left Islamabad Sunday for Luxembourg after a two-day visit, urged the top Pakistani leadership to sign NPT as he conveyed his country's concerns over nuclear proliferation.

    However, the Japanese prime minister was told by Pakistani government that any positive change in Pakistan's policy on NPT would not be forthcoming before it was recognized as a nuclear weapon state.

    The renewed demand by Japanese prime minister for signing NPT came ahead of the international conference to review NPT starting Monday at UN headquarters in New York.

    The NPT came into effect in 1970 with the aim of preventing thespread of nuclear weapons and promoting the peaceful use of atomic energy.

    Under the treaty, only five states-Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States-are allowed to have nuclear arms, with other signatory countries banned from possessing them.

    Pakistan, India and Israel however were also believed to own nuclear weapons but have yet to join the NPT club. Enditem