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India looking forward to Clinton's visit, says PM

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has said he was looking forward to US President Bill Clinton's visit to India, and asserted that the country had the capacity to withstand economic sanctions imposed by some countries after the nuclear tests.

In an interview to the Egyptian Gazette, he said New Delhi desired the best of relations with Washington.

Vajpayee said the full range of economic sanctions was still unclear. ''While we do not underestimate their impact, our calculation is that the Indian economy has the capacity to withstand them.''

On the reported statement of Defence Minister George Fernandes that China was India's potential enemy number one, the prime minister said, ''I do not subscribe to this view. The security concerns of India cover a larger canvas. We want good relations with China and have made it amply clear that each side should be equally responsive to the other's concerns. We want to set a firm foundation for a stable and long-term relationship with them through dialogue.''

Justifying the nuclear tests conducted by India, the prime minister said the primary reason for the step was the need to safeguard the country's national security. ''We wanted to reassure the people that their security was of paramount concern to the government. The tests were based on an objective analysis of a number of factors.'' These, he said, included India's security concerns, the continuing nuclear and missile proliferation in the region due to clandestine transfers, the international security environment and the role played by nuclear weapons states.

He stoutly denied the insinuation that the tests were carried out because of domestic compulsions, saying this was being propagated by his government's detractors. ''India's national interests are paramount and the action we took was to safeguard them.''

Vajpayee said India had not only consistently advocated global non-proliferation on a non-discriminatory basis but even exercised self-restraint over a quarter century in its own nuclear programme.

Asked if the nuclear tests were at the expense of the economic reforms, he said, ''The costs of this scientific endeavour have been small and spread over decades. There would not be diversion of funds from development. Our focus in terms of resources will always be on the social sector, poverty alleviation, providing food, water, shelter and education.''

Vajpayee reiterated that India was willing to formalise its voluntary moratorium on further nuclear tests through negotiations with key interlocutors. ''Our objections to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty are well known. For instance, the treaty does not prevent the development of new nuclear weapons through computer simulation, thus hindering the efforts to achieve comprehensive and universal disarmament''.

He asserted that India did not want to set off any nuclear arms race in the Indian subcontinent. The onus for this lay on those who had continued with their clandestine nuclear weapons and delivery systems development programme despite New Delhi's repeated warnings.

Pointing out that India deserved to be respected , the prime minister said, ''We are not very rich or fully developed, but, as our Egyptian friends will understand, human dignity and self-respect transcend material achievements.''

UNI

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