Mulayam takes Washington to task for motivated 'leaks'

In a clear rebuff to the United States, Union Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday charged ''certain powers'' with trying to destabilise South-East Asia including India through motivated ''leaks'' about proliferation of missiles.

Asking the people to expose this conspiracy, he said, ''Why do only certain newspapers in one particular country publish reports about the alleged deployment of Prithvi missiles, the successful test-firing of the 800-km-range Hatf-III missile by Pakistan and the targetting of Chinese missiles on India and other South-East Asian countries?''

Yadav, who was addressing a meeting at the Bihar Regimental Centre at Danapur near Patna, said these mischievous reports had escalated tensions between India and Pakistan. He urged the people to frustrate these designs to spread instability in the region.

The defence minister reiterated these points later while talking to the media on board his special aircraft and accused the Western media of being hand in glove with the destabilising forces.

He assured the countrymen that all necessary steps would be taken to preserve and protect national security and no compromise whatsoever would be made.

Though these ''powers'' make missiles themselves and supply them to other countries, the Western media maintains a studied silence, he said.

Replying to a question, the defence minister said the indigenously developed missiles would be upgraded if necessary.

Referring to reports about alleged deployment of Prithvi missiles, he said it was ''nobody's business to dictate to us when and where they should be deployed''.

''We have not developed the missile to keep it in a museum. We will decide on the timing and location of deployment when the time comes, depending on our threat perception.''

He said India wants peace but if war was thrust on it, it would be fought on enemy soil and not on Indian territory.

The defence minister stoutly defended the strengthening and modernisation of the Indian armed forces and said no country could pursue an independent foreign policy unless it was militarily strong.

''Strong and well-equipped armed forces are a must if we want our voice to be heard in the international arena,'' he stressed.

In an apparent reference to China, the defence minister said a neighbouring country got away with whatever it wanted to do just because it was militarily strong.

He said India withstood all pressures and did not sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. He said even the Agni project had not been capped.

UNI

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