NEW DELHI, May 16: India appeared hesitant on Tuesday to confirm or deny a senior scientist’s claim that it was ready for the political signal to test a nuclear capable Agni III missile amid reports that US pressure had actually put the project in the cold store.
At the heart of the official reluctance to speak clearly on the issue was a report in the Asian Age on Tuesday which quoted Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee as suggesting that India was not politically ready to test the missile that is said to have a range of over 3000 kms.
“As responsible members of the international community, we want to keep our international commitments on non-proliferation,” Mr Mukherjee had said on Monday. The newspaper quoting a source interpreted this to mean that the government has abandoned the programme.
A fuller quote in the Age suggests further chaos. “We have no pressure on us. Nor are we putting any political pressure. It is just that we have decided to have self-imposed restraint,” Mr Mukherjee had said.
This brought the foreign ministry into the picture, whose spokesman, “in response to a question” on Tuesday left the issue just as vague.
“Ministry of Defence has already clarified that (Mr Mukherjee) was speaking in general terms about India’s policy of responsibility and restraint in pursuing its strategic programme,” the foreign ministry spokesman said.
“Decisions concerning the country’s strategic programme, including the development and testing of different classes of missiles, are based on technical factors and a continuous review and assessment of our overall security environment,” he explained.
The question remained unanswered. Is India still planning to test the missile any time soon? Quite evidently not, but that decision has nothing to do with American expectations. Thus goes the official view.
