Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

India not planning large arsenal: PM

Although India "is'' a nuclear weapons State, it does not intend to build a large arsenal or create elaborate command and control systems like the other nuclear powers, according to the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee.

In an interview to The Washington Post the Prime Minister said, "India's nuclear doctrine is qualitatively different from that of other nuclear weapons states. Therefore we do not need to or intend to replicate the kind of command and control structures which they require. Our approach is to have a credible deterrent which should prevent the use of these weapons.''

Mr. Vajpayee said India carried out the nuclear tests partly to prod the five established nuclear powers to agree to plans to disarm. "That was one of the main reasons. We thought that if there is nuclear disarmament it will make the world a better place to live in. It will also provide security for us,'' the Prime Minister said.

The interview published in the form of a dispatch from New Delhi, says the Indian Prime Minister met the correspondent in his office and later also responded to questions in writing.

The burden of initiating total disarmament, Mr. Vajpayee said, fell on the five established nuclear powers which had so far resisted the step. The Prime Minister is said to have nodded affirmatively on the partial reduction undertaken by the United States and Russia by way of the START process, but went on to dismiss it as inadequate. "Something more needs to be done... a pledge to destroy all nuclear weapons within a definite time frame. We know that cannot be done tomorrow. It will take time. Already so many years have passed. Let the initiative come from nuclear weapons States,'' Mr. Vajpayee said.The inference made by The Post Correspondent is that while the Prime Minister has not agreed to with all the demands made by the West, India was not planning to deploy an extensive weapons system or the kind of infrastructure that is needed to safeguard and control it.

Mr. Vajpayee reacted sharply to the sanctions imposed by the U.S. under the Glenn Amendment. He made it clear that it was not just India that was going to be hurt. "If sanctions declared by some countries are indeed imposed, India would have no option but to take measures that minimise their impact on the Indian economy. It would be a pity if economic cooperation between India and the U.S. were to be adversely affected. Both countries would stand to lose a lot,'' Mr. Vajpayee said.

The Prime Minister's reference to sanctions and his hardline approach comes at a time when the Clinton Administration is getting ready with the final plan for the implementation of the sanctions. The announcement is expected to come by the weekend and senior officials of the administration have been saying that the sanctions, which are mandatory under a 1994 law, "will hurt''. Business analysts have been arguing that the impact will be felt both by India and the U.S. and it was not going to be a one-way street.