By IANS
Chennai : Officials of the nuclear-powered USS Nimitz have said they could "neither confirm nor deny" whether any nuclear missiles were on board the ship that will berth here amid growing protests from political parties and environmentalists against its visit.
"We can neither confirm, nor deny the presence of weapons on board the ship," Rear Admiral John Terence Blake, commander, Carrier Strike Group 11 of the USS Nimitz, told a select group of mediapersons who were taken on a tour of the ship Friday.
"The general US policy is that we do not routinely deploy nuclear weapons on any of our ships, attack submarines or aircraft. We do not deploy (nuclear weapons) routinely. We do not go into specifics," he said.
"These are warships not cruise liners. But when we go out, we are required to perform a wide range of activities," he said, adding that these could be "offensive or defensive".
USS Nimitz commanding officer Captain Michael C. Manazir said, "We cannot confirm the presence or absence of nuclear weapons on board."
The USS Nimitz, about 300 km off Chennai's coast Saturday afternoon, will be in the outer harbour Sunday for a four-day goodwill visit.
The US consulate here said in a statement that the ship's visit was "part of a bilateral and multilateral framework known as the 'Malabar series' of joint Indo-US exercises".
The US government has also asserted that the nuclear safety record of US nuclear-powered warships has been outstanding and that there has been no nuclear accident in the 56-plus-year history of the programme.
However, political parties, trade unions, environmentalists and many concerned citizens of Tamil Nadu have stepped up their opposition to the arrival of the USS Nimitz.
Apart from the safety concerns, political leaders are also sceptical about India reversing its past policy opposing the transit of nuclear weapons in its neighbourhood.
MDMK leader Vaiko said: "…as the Kalpakkam and Koodankulam atomic power stations are located on Tamil Nadu's coast, there is a fear that the visit of a nuclear-powered warship to the port here would endanger the country's security."
Communist Party of India (CPI) MP D. Raja added: "We are surprised to see a reversal of India's age-old policy of not allowing warships into its territorial waters."
AIADMK leader J. Jayalalitha had earlier noted: "This is a serious issue and the possible radiation hazards to the people of Chennai cannot be taken lightly."
But defence ministry officials and the US government have rubbished the radiation aspect, pointing out that Nimitz has some 6,000 personnel on board and that any radiation leak would affect the ship's crew first before causing damage to others.
Left-led trade unions like the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), port workers federations and several groups like the All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation and the People's Union for Civil Liberties plan to stage a protest at the Chennai port July 2.
Lawyers S. Shankar and M. Vel Murugan, in their petitions before the Madras High Court Friday and returning to the court Saturday on further direction, have said the central government has been "unresponsive" to peoples' objections to Nimitz being in Indian waters.
They have demanded a "detailed safety study" before the vessel is permitted to enter India's territorial waters though a high-level security assessment group of the Defence Ministry had gone on board Thursday.
"Permitting the warship into Indian waters from July 1 would be inimical to the nation's safety, as well as a threat to the ecological and environment stability in the territorial jurisdiction of the nation," Shankar's petition said, adding the ship would be a "health hazard".