NEW DELHI, Dec 16: Foreign Minister Kunwar Natwar Singh's remarks in Seoul that the Korean rivals should not emulate India to acquire atomic arms prompted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday to allay opposition fears that New Delhi was abandoning its nuclear policy.

"India remains a responsible nuclear power," Dr Singh told an agitated Rajya Sabha where the Bharatiya Janata Party's Jaswant Singh, the former foreign minister, is leader of the opposition. "We remain committed to the principle that India's security policy follows national consensus."

Speaking to the Korea Times daily on Tuesday, Mr Natwar Singh had said: "Even though we are ourselves a nuclear power, we support complete nuclear disarmament for Korea."

The Indian Express quoting the Seoul interview on Thursday said Mr Singh, in the interview, sought to shift the entire blame for events leading up to the 1998 Pokharan II tests on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and its 2002 nuclear stand off with Pakistan.

After appearing to blame the NDA government of former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Mr Singh told the Korean newspaper that little could be done to reverse the episode. "Regret would be futile...you can't put it back in the tube, it's out."

For Dr Singh this was not the first time he had to explain India's nuclear policy after seemingly innovative remarks by his foreign minister on the issue. Mr Natwar Singh had earlier sent defence analysts into a tizzy in May when he called for a trilateral nuclear strategy involving India, Pakistan and China.

The Indian prime minister responded swiftly to Mr Jaswant Singh's calling attention notice in the Rajya Sabha. "India is a nuclear power and will remain a nuclear power...These are issues best kept outside party politics," Dr Singh said responding to Mr Jaswant Singh's query, who wanted the prime minister to say if he agreed with the remarks of Mr Natwar Singh.

The ruling Congress Party too appeared to distance itself from Natwar Singh's remarks while the foreign office rushed to explain that he was either misquoted or misunderstood.

Congress spokesman Anand Sharma downplayed the foreign minister's remarks in Seou "The minister of external affairs is yet to return from his visit. But he has not made any policy statement on the nuclear issue. The prime minister has made a statement on behalf of the government and he would not be able to say anything beyond what he has stated", Mr Sharma said.

Foreign ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna appeared to indicate that the foreign minister was misquoted. "The minister acknowledged that the decision to cross the nuclear threshold was taken by the previous NDA government in 1998."