'Deterrence can never be put in absolute terms'

OPINION/ Pranab Mukherjee

The NDA government came to power on March 1, 1998, and went in for explosion in May. Am I to assume that in less than six weeks, you were able to make all the arrangements for the test, if everything was not ready? Therefore, this is a question of principle, firm commitment on disarmament and non-proliferation, embedded in our civilisation and in our history.

Therefore, you may have your own view. And there was a broad national consensus on that issue. From 1964, you have been saying that we want nuclear weaponisation. But, in 1977, when you were a major partner in the coalition government, you did not go in for it. When you came into power and became the dominant partner in the government, you did it. And don't try to preach that the Congress government did not go in for nuclear weaponisation because of some pressure. The other day I was told that some Defence Minister has said that he was ready but because the instructions came from somewhere else, from the top, the test did not take place. Obviously, the indication was that the pressure came from some super power. It is not so. The nuclear weaponisation programme is kept a top secret in every part of the world. Only the Prime Minister or the Chief Executive and a couple of his advisers know about it.

When the paste came out of the tube, there was no question of putting the same paste back into the same tube; it became a fait accompli. And when it became a fait accompli and when you yourself in your nuclear doctrine clearly stated 'No First Use', 'No Use against Non Nuclear Weapon States', 'Voluntary Moratorium on Test Ban', it was accepted; we did not change it and are pursuing the same.

Sir, I am a little scared; not scared, but a little confused. I must admit that my knowledge in these matters is so little that I was a little confused when Yashwant Sinha tried to play with the words 'credible minimum deterrent, whether it is minimal or whether it is minimum or whether it is credible'. I found that he has used this phrase on four occasions.

And this is the widely accepted phrase, 'credible minimum deterrent,' that we do not want to be a nuclear weapon state. That is the foreign policy; You also accepted it. That is why you put moratorium on tests. You gave the explanation. Yesterday, Kapil Sibal explained in details, convinced the world that we have no intention of becoming a nuclear power. We want minimum credible deterrent from our security perspective. What you have, what you don't have, what we would like to have, security and threat perception. It is not in absolute terms. It is related to who could be your potential adversary. Depending on his capacity, the government of the day will have to determine what would be the threat perceptions and what deterrent would be required. Repeatedly, it has been stated that 'yes, if we want; if we feel at some point of time that test is necessary from the geopolitical situation, we will do it'. In the 123 Agreement, it has not been banned. I myself clarified on the floor of the House on August 17 this year 'that there will be no ban'. And if we consider it necessary, we will undertake the test. As we did it in 1974; as we did in 1998; and the consequences will also follow.

An attempt has been made to query whether nuclear energy will be beneficial to aam aadmi. I would like to submit, Sir, to the honourable members that so far as the 123 Agreement is concerned, it is an an enabling framework and through this the restrictions of having nuclear trade with India, will be removed. And, it is applicable to the US and India. As per the 1954 Atomic Energy Act of USA "" which has been subsequently amended "" US cannot enter into any civilian-nuclear cooperation with any country which is not a signatory to the NPT. Therefore, the administration does not have the authority. A waiver is required under that Act, and that waiver is to be provided by an Act passed by the legislature.

Excerpt from Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee's reply to the Rajya Sabha on the Indo-US Civil Nuclear Agreement, 5 December 2007