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India seeks to alleviate US fears on nuke doctrine

Amberish K Diwanji in New Delhi

India is playing down the strong reaction from the United States to its nuclear doctrine draft, which was released three days ago. The US has decried India's doctrine that calls for a minimum credible deterrence, saying such a position will fuel the nuclear race. The US and the G-8 nations have just declared that all funding for non-basic human needs by international institutions will be deferred.

The Indian government has claimed that the draft was further proof that India was a responsible nuclear power which believed in complete transparency vis-a-vis its nuclear doctrine. ''The very act of making public the draft shows that India believes in nuclear deterrence and complete disarmament. It would be a welcome development if other countries also had such a sense of openness and transparency and publicly committed themselves to the goal of early elimination of all weapons of mass destruction," says ministry of external affairs spokesperson Raminder Singh Jassal.

Jassal was clearly referring to Pakistan's unwillingness to make public its nuclear policy, if any. However, Islamabad is reported to have declared that it too will come out with a doctrine soon though it has not given a specific timeframe.

The MEA spokesperson further says that India's dialogue with all the partners, including the US, was predicated on India maintaining a credible minimum deterrence. "This matter is clearly understood by all our partners," he emphasised.

Incidentally, the US has claimed that in the ongoing talks between US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, no mention was made about India's maintaining a minimum deterrence.

However, the spokesperson says the aspect of a credible minimum nuclear deterrence is part of the negotiations between Talbott and Singh.

Talbott and Singh have held eight rounds of talks ever since India conducted its nuclear tests at Pokhran in May last year. Whether a ninth round will be held is still unclear.

The White House, the Pentagon and the state department have all issued separate statements condemning New Delhi for its draft and the need for a deterrence, clear evidence that Washington DC is extremely upset with India's nuclear doctrine draft.

India too has not taken kindly to the statements. "With respect to the comments on what is, what is not in India's security interests as a sovereign country it is India's right to decide for itself what is in its larger security interests," the MEA spokesperson stated.

Jassal pointed out that India's nuclear status was never in doubt after May last year. "When we conducted the nuclear tests, we understood and acted with a deep sense of responsibility and restraint," he said and added, "we announced a moratorium on the tests, we have promised no first use and no use against a non-nuclear weapons' state.''

He also pointed out that India had always been a champion of total and non-discriminatory disarmament. "We took the joint lead in seeking a ban on all chemical weapons because that treaty applied to all nations equally. We have never transferred fissile material to any other state," he stated.

The spokesperson admitted that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had received a letter from President Bill Clinton. "This is part of the regular correspondence between the prime minister and the US president, and a reply will be sent shortly," he says.

Jassal says the focus of the correspondence is on strengthening Indo-US relations and understanding each other's perspectives better. "Both leaders have expressed the hope that our bilateral relations will be raised to a qualitatively new level," he added.

He emphasised that the recent outburst from the US had not affected Indo-US ties and there was no change in the bilateral relation. "We still have a convergence of views. No doubt some differences do exist, but we are able to handle it with maturity befitting the two nations," he said.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson had denied news reports that India was part of the agreement between the US and Pakistan which paved the way for the Pakistani intruders to withdraw from the Kargil heights. "That news item is absolute fiction and drivel. The agreement between the US and Pakistan, brokered when Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharief was in Washington DC, was only between those two countries. New Delhi was not involved in any way," he clarified.

He added that, the US, however, used to keep India informed of all ongoing deliberations and negotiations between Washington and Islamabad.

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