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India has credible nuclear deterrence in place: defense minister

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, Sept 5, IRNA -- Asserting that the country had credible 
nuclear deterrence in place, Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee 
Sunday said that specialized forces were being raised to tackle 
nuclear threat in all its dimensions. 
Mukherjee said, "Whatever is needed to safeguard the country and 
to ensure effective deterrence, in line with our nuclear doctrine of 
`no first use`, has been done," reported Press Trust of India. 
Maintaining that the Defense Research and Development Organization
(DRDO) had a definite time-frame on test-firing of the country`s 
intermediate range 3000-km surface-to-surface ballistic missile 
Agni-III, he said India was committed to `no first use` of nuclear 
weapons and non-use of these weapons against non-nuclear weapon 
states. 
Indian defense minister also said that India had reached an 
understanding with its neighboring countries to share information on 
missile test-firing. 
Asked if safeguards had been taken against selective nuclear 
strikes on forces and on civilians, the defense minister replied, "We 
are raising specialized troops to tackle such threats." 
In the wide-ranging interview, Mukherjee ruled out any scaling 
down of forces from the world`s highest battlefield, Siachen Glacier, 
as well as from insurgency-torn Jammu and Kashmir. 
"Our presence in Siachen Glacier is limited. And, secondly, the 
situation in Jammu and Kashmir is not yet conducive for thinning down 
of forces," he said. 
The US government has cleared the installation of missile 
deflector shields in the Boeing 737 aircraft to be acquired for the 
exclusive use of VVIPs, including the prime minister, Pranab Mukherjee
said. 
"The US has agreed to give us this technology (missile defense 
shields) but it is yet to be installed" on the Boeing aircraft. 
Due to post-Pokhran sanctions, India had faced difficulties in 
getting the missile shields as the manufacturers told New Delhi that 
they would have to get Washington`s approval for their installation. 
He said five `Embraer` Executive Jets were also being inducted 
into the Communication Squadron of the Indian Air Force for domestic 
VIP travel. 
While one of them would be given to the Union Home Ministry, the 
others would be given to the Indian Air Force. 
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