By IANS
New Delhi : External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday asserted that the nuclear deal with Washington did not ban a future test by India and that New Delhi will exercise the option if there was a need.
“In the 123 agreement, (testing) is not banned. If the geopolitical situation arises, we will go for it,” Mukherjee said in his reply to the marathon debate on the nuclear deal in the Rajya Sabha.
The government of the day will have to determine what is the threat perception and act accordingly, he said.
He rebutted BJP leader Yashwant Sinha’s charge that the 123 agreement threatened to compromise credible minimum deterrence, saying it will be up to New Delhi to decide whether to opt for the testing of a nuclear device as it did in 1974 and 1998.
Enunciating the nuclear doctrine of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, he said: “We don’t want to be a major nuclear weapon power, but we want credible minimum deterrence for security purposes.”
Passionately defending the deal against attacks from the government’s Left allies and the opposition, Mukherjee said that the nuclear deal would bring the country the much-needed energy security without sacrificing its indigenous programme or its strategic deterrence.
Participating in the debate Tuesday, the Left allies asked the government not to proceed with the deal, which they said will make New Delhi a “subordinate ally” of Washington. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slammed it as a “grave mistake”.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which leads the four-party Left Front backing the ruling coalition, reiterated its opposition to the nuclear deal saying it compromised India’s independent foreign policy.