India committed to peace in subcontinent, says PM

Asserting that India was committed to preserving peace in the subcontinent, Prime Minister I K Gujral on Wednesday categorically ruled out in the Lok Sabha deployment of chemical weapons and missiles of mass destruction unless ''our security is threatened.''

Gujral disagreed with Jaswant Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party on the deployment of weapons as a defence concept. The prime minister said 'weapons of mass destruction' could be deployed only under total civilian control and should be in response to specific threat perceptions.

The prime minister said though India had chemical weapons and missiles, a ''state for deploying them has not come.'' He added that the army was familiar with their use, ''but we should not militarise them at this stage.''

UNI