It's our business, asserts India
By Seema Guha
NEW DELHI: India struck back at persistent US criticism of its draft nuclear doctrine by asserting on Thursday that every country had the right to decide on its security requirements.
After initially shrugging off comments from US state department spokesman James Rubin, the external affairs ministry decided to take him on. "With respect to comments on what is or what is not in the security interests of India, it is India's right as a sovereign country to decide," Raminder Singh Jassal told reporters.
External affairs minister Jaswant Singh's approach was more conciliatory. He tried to reassure Washington that India was not about to start a nuclear arms race in the region:
``We are not in the arms race. We are not for re-inventing the acronyms and phraseologies of the Cold War era. In fact, we are speaking of no-first use and non-use against non-nuclear weapon states for stable, global disarmament,' he said.
Singh said that if there were apprehensions about the nuclear doctrine, he was willing to explain India's views to both Washington and Beijing. Singh will be in New York for the UN General Assembly session next month. "I am due to meet secretary of state Madeleine Albright there. I have no inhibitions in discussing all aspects as the document is meant for public discussion," he told newsmen.
India maintains its nuclear doctrine is defensive. "We have made no secret of the fact that we will maintain a credible minimum deterrent," a senior official said. He also emphasised that during talks with "our partners, including the US", India has clearly explained its aim to procure minimum though credible deterrent.
Washington's concern over India's nuclear intentions is likely to slow down gradually-warming ties with the US, evident during the Kargil stand-off. The downing of the Pakistan aircraft last week had not helped matters. The US response after the shooting was to call for restraint on both sides and James Rubin had clearly said India was more to blame. President Clinton also wrote to Prime Minister Vajpayee after the incident. The spokesman said the letter spoke of "raising bilateral relations to qualitatively new levels," but did not go into specifics. It is apparent President Clinton underlined the need for resumption of talks with Pakistan. If the shoot-out led to anxiety, the nuclear doctrine led to alarm.
Officials privately admit that the doctrine, which gives a rather "grandiose and ambitious outline of India's nuclear programme" without going into details, may have raised hackles in the US. At the same time they say Washington knows this is not the final document.
"It is unrealistic to expect us to conduct a nuclear test and not weaponise, it is, after all, a natural corollary to Pokhran II,' one official said.
But officials admit the road ahead will not be easy considering that nuclear non-proliferation is on the top of the Clinton administration's agenda. "This is a difficult area...We have fundamental differences on the nuclear issue. The challenge for both our countries is to keep talking and narrow our differences like two mature democracies," an official said.
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