The Hindu : Front Page : We are a responsible nuclear power, says Manmohan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 17, 2004

Front Page

Front Page

We are a responsible nuclear power, says Manmohan

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 16. There is no uncertainty over the country's nuclear policy, the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, asserted in the Rajya Sabha today. "India is a nuclear power and a responsible nuclear power," he said.

Dr. Singh was responding to clarifications sought by the Leader of the Opposition, Jaswant Singh, after question hour on a newspaper report about the External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh's "remarks" to a South Korean newspaper.

The Prime Minister said he had also seen the report and would check its authenticity from Mr. Natwar Singh when he returned from his foreign tour tomorrow. In his assessment, the Minister's reported remarks must have been in the context of replies to questions from journalists. "It was not a policy statement."

Responding to Mr. Jaswant Singh's query on the continuity of the foreign policy, Dr. Singh emphasised that India's defence and foreign policy were decided on continuity and consensus and "need to be kept out of national politics."

`Tradition broken'

Earlier, Mr. Jaswant Singh said that Mr. Natwar Singh's "statement" had broken a tradition followed by successive governments and "taken our domestic policies to foreign shores." According to him, to say that the National Democratic Alliance Government had entered into a nuclear standoff with Pakistan "belittled" the totality of the country's nuclear programme.

Nilotpal Basu of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) countered Mr. Jaswant Singh's assertion and sought to know whether "the great divide across the polity" following the nuclear test by the NDA Government at Pokhran on May 11, 1998 represented a consensus.

`He was stating a fact'

Asked about Mr. Natwar Singh's remarks, the External Affairs Ministry spokesman said: "As far as the External Affairs Minister's remarks are concerned, he has acknowledged that the decision to cross the nuclear threshold was taken by the previous government in 1998. He was merely stating a fact; not expressing any disagreement or agreement with that decision." The spokesman stressed that Mr. Natwar Singh had also pointed out that India was not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), as New Delhi considered it discriminatory. However, he had said the countries that had undertaken international treaty obligations should abide by their commitments.

"Therefore, as is obvious from what I have said, the news report that you have seen in the morning is based on misquotation and distortion of facts and I hope that this clarifies the matter," the spokesman said.

In a related development, the Bharatiya Janata Party criticised the "remarks" attributed to Mr. Natwar Singh. "We are proud that the NDA Government made India a nuclear power," V.K. Malhotra, the party spokesman, told presspersons.

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