ID :
19491
Mon, 09/15/2008 - 09:33
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/19491
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India has sovereign right to conduct nuclear test: Mukherjee
New Delhi, Sept 14 (PTI) India can conduct nuclear tests in the future, if necessary, but it has to be ready to face consequences, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said.
"If the country considers it is necessary to conduct nuclear tests, it can do so. Nothing stops us in this (123) agreement. Therefore, we are entitled to conduct nuclear tests if it is found necessary," he told I.B.N.-7 news channel.
Mukherjee said, "Every country has its own rules for
nuclear tests and therefore we (India) also have sovereign
right to go for the nuclear tests, if required."
However, he added that if the country conducts a test,
it has to face consequences as witnessed in 1974 and 1998,
hinting at possibility of sanctions as were imposed after the
Pokhran I and II atomic tests.
On the B.J.P.'s opposition to his statement that India
is committed to non-proliferation goals and maintaining its
unilateral moratorium on testing, Mukherjee said the saffron
party should not forget that it was B.J.P. which, after the
1998 Pokhran explosions, declared unilaterally that India will
not conduct any more nuclear tests.
"It was a senior leader of the B.J.P. and the then Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who declared in the United
Nations that we are ready to sign the C.T.B.T.," he said.
The External Affairs Minister said the U.P.A. government
has inked the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal and got a waiver from the
N.S.G. without signing the C.T.B.T. and N.P.T. which is not a
"mean achievement".
Asked whether the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal will be signed
during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the U.S. later
this month, Mukherjee said: "Let's wait and see, the process
has already started."
On whether the deal will see a smooth passage in the
U.S. Congress, he refused to comment, saying it will not be
proper on his part to react how the U.S. Congress would
debate.
But, he said he was hopeful that the deal will be
ratified.
"India is free to conduct nuclear trade with any
country be it France, Russia or U.K. and there is nothing like
first among equals. For India every country is equal," he
said, when asked whether American nuclear companies will be
given preferential agreement. PTI ETB
"If the country considers it is necessary to conduct nuclear tests, it can do so. Nothing stops us in this (123) agreement. Therefore, we are entitled to conduct nuclear tests if it is found necessary," he told I.B.N.-7 news channel.
Mukherjee said, "Every country has its own rules for
nuclear tests and therefore we (India) also have sovereign
right to go for the nuclear tests, if required."
However, he added that if the country conducts a test,
it has to face consequences as witnessed in 1974 and 1998,
hinting at possibility of sanctions as were imposed after the
Pokhran I and II atomic tests.
On the B.J.P.'s opposition to his statement that India
is committed to non-proliferation goals and maintaining its
unilateral moratorium on testing, Mukherjee said the saffron
party should not forget that it was B.J.P. which, after the
1998 Pokhran explosions, declared unilaterally that India will
not conduct any more nuclear tests.
"It was a senior leader of the B.J.P. and the then Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who declared in the United
Nations that we are ready to sign the C.T.B.T.," he said.
The External Affairs Minister said the U.P.A. government
has inked the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal and got a waiver from the
N.S.G. without signing the C.T.B.T. and N.P.T. which is not a
"mean achievement".
Asked whether the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal will be signed
during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the U.S. later
this month, Mukherjee said: "Let's wait and see, the process
has already started."
On whether the deal will see a smooth passage in the
U.S. Congress, he refused to comment, saying it will not be
proper on his part to react how the U.S. Congress would
debate.
But, he said he was hopeful that the deal will be
ratified.
"India is free to conduct nuclear trade with any
country be it France, Russia or U.K. and there is nothing like
first among equals. For India every country is equal," he
said, when asked whether American nuclear companies will be
given preferential agreement. PTI ETB
