"Obviously, there were some charges and the Pakistan Cabinet decided to recommend to President (Pervez Musharraf) that A Q Khan should be pardoned. The Pakistan president has pardoned him," External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said at a joint press conference with his British counterpart Jack Straw.

He said, "obviously, it appears to me that things will not stop here because it is not merely an internal matter of Pakistan but it is a matter concerning the entire international community. Pakistan itself is not a signatory to the NPT but Libya and Iran are."

New Delhi's reaction assumes significance in the wake of US terming the Presidential pardon to Khan as an internal matter of Pakistan.

"These are issues which will have to be debated in the IAEA and elsewhere so that we have a more responsible behaviour from countries which have nuclear capability," he said.

Reuters from Washington adds: The United States on Thursday strongly defended Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, despite his pardon of disgraced scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, who admitted to selling nuclear secrets to three countries.

Reflecting a balancing act between its usual aggressive stance on punishing proliferation and its firm support for Musharraf -- a key ally in the US anti-terror war -- the White House said Pakistan has proved its intent through action.

"This proliferation network is no longer. The actions of Pakistan have broken up this network," spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters aboard Air Force One enroute back from an event in South Carolina, where Bush gave a speech.

He said Musharraf provided assurances that his government itself was not involved in any kind of proliferation activity and "we value those assurances and those actions."