NEW DELHI, May 8: Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday rejected President Pervez Musharraf’s proposal to de- nuclearize South Asia, saying that New Delh’s doctrine was not Pakistan-specific unlike Islamabad’s approach, which, he said, was centred on India.
Mr Vajpayee was replying to a debate on India-Pakistan peace moves in the Lok Sabha. He said: “Pakistan has offered a de- nuclearization pact. We don’t want to accept this proposal. Pakistan’s nuclear programme is India-specific while we have to worry about the atmosphere in other neighbouring countries.”
Mr Vajpayee said India had spelt out in its nuclear doctrine that it would not be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict. “Pakistan had said no to this.”
The prime minister also rejected Pakistan’s offer of a no-war pact with India. He said that as one of his colleagues from the Bharatiya Janata Party had remarked, India really needed a “no- proxy war pact” with Pakistan.
Mr Vajpayee said neither country could afford to spend heavily on armaments, as both needed the money for their neglected social development.
“Yet we cannot overlook the basic commitment to the integrity and unity of our country. If that is threatened, then, I am afraid, we will have to do whatever is required.”
