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PM, Fernandes make confusing statements on missile programme

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Varying statements by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Defence Minister George Fernandes on crucial matters of national security have reinforced the impression of lack of co-ordination in the government.

Addressing scientists at the National Physical Laboratory on Tuesday, the first anniversary of Pokhran II, Vajpayee stressed that India would not compromise on national security and defence.

He said the nuclear tests at Pokhran symbolised a resurgent India. He also linked national security and development, saying that only a nation secure from internal and external threats could pursue its developmental goals successfully.

India's principled policy had been vindicated by the developments of the past year, Vajpayee said, adding that the country would pursue its commitment to peace from a position of strength.

In this regard, he indicated that India would never bow to external pressure to cap its nuclear and missile programmes.

Curiously, however, in a recent interview to Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, Defence Minister Fernandes asserted that the government had no plan to develop the Agni III intermediate range ballistic missile with a range of 3500km or the inter-continental ballistic missile Surya with a range of more than 8400km.

The universally respected Jane's Defence Weekly had recently reported that India is developing the Agni III missile after having tested Agni II with a range of 2500km.

Reports had also appeared in international defence magazines some time ago about India's ICBM Surya.

Significantly, at a press conference on April 11 after Agni II was successfully launched from the Orissa coast, Fernandes had said, "We have shown that no one can put pressure on us when it comes to national security." The defence minister had also said India did not need to be told by anybody to exercise restraint.

Therefore, his assertion to the Japanese paper that the government does not plan to develop Agni III or Surya has left defence circles confused.

Defence analysts had said after the Agni II test that India had achieved "total mastery" over missile technology and Agni III would be tested soon.

Asked to explain Fernandes's new assertion, defence ministry officers said he might be trying to play down the matter considering the paranoid reaction of the Western community to India's entry into the missile club. They also pointed out that Fernandes was contradicting his earlier statement when he had dubbed China India's "potential enemy" and advocated the development of longer-range IRBMs like Agni III, which can hit targets deep inside China.

The officials declined to comment on the Jane's report that India had already begun work on Agni III. But Bharatiya Janata Party spokesmen M Venkaiah Naidu and J P Mathur, while refusing to comment on Fernandes's statement, said all steps were being taken to protect India's national security.

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