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This government has no mandate to decide on N-weaponisation, says Chidambaram

Former Union finance minister and Tamil Maanila Congress leader P Chidambaram today lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government at the Centre for conducting nuclear tests without assessing their long-term impact, and said the Vajpayee government did not have the mandate for taking a unilateral decision on nuclear weaponisation..

Hailing the scientists and engineers for updating the nuclear technology first tested in the country in 1974, Chidambaram posed several queries to the government regarding nuclear weaponisation, asking whether the country would mount the weapons on missiles and aircraft.

Participating in the debate in the Lok Sabha on the tests, he said the prime minister's statement in the house was silent on these questions, while Defence Minister George Fernandes was making statements on these issues.

Describing the Vajpayee government's decision as a cynical and motivated agenda, he said India was well into the arms race, and that south-east Asia would become a mini theatre for star wars in which other powers were indulging.

Saying these tests were apparently aimed at mid-term elections, Chidambaram said there were three roads before the government -- first, a local limited war, second, sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and third and last was to pave the way for the polls.

He said there was a difference between the 1974 and 1998 tests. This year, even before the mushroom cloud settled, some senior ministers including L K Advani, had started talking about hot pursuits and the tone was challenging.

Saying that weaponisation talks had put India on a perilous path, Chidambaram minced no words in telling Vajpayee, ''Mr Prime Minister, your case is unconvincing. ''

He said the coalition government had not discovered new threats to the country's security, but ''it has invented them''.

According to him, there was no threat from China, but the thoughtless action followed by thoughtless statements had caused an axis of China-United States-Pakistan against India.

He made it clear that his party was with the government on fighting out sanctions, but the government should not go in for nuclear weaponisation without a thorough debate.

UNI

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