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'India wants friendship with Pakistan. India wants to be a good neighbour'

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said on Saturday that India wants peace, and its nuclear device was not a weapon of aggression.

"India wants friendship with Pakistan. It is committed to the resolution of the Kashmir issue through peaceful discussions and negotiations," the prime minister said, "India wants to be a good neighbour."

India would never enter any other country to disturb its peace, he added.

The BJP-led government is committed to the re-establishment of friendship and cooperation with Pakistan, which is based on mutual respect and a regard for each other's concern, he said.

Vajpayee said the state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. A part of it is under Pakistan's forcible and illegal occupation.

On the Sino-Indian relations, he said, "We have ongoing dialogue with China. We favour the continuation of that dialogue."

He ridiculed critics who referred to India's nuclear device as a Hindu bomb, saying many scientists involved in its making were Muslims.

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