NEW DELHI, 3 July 2005 — Dispelling apprehensions about India’s nuclear drive, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described the country as a “responsible” nuclear power, which is committed against its “first use.”

While addressing the 2004 batch of Indian Foreign Service probationers at his residence yesterday, Manmohan asserted: “We are a nuclear power… A responsible nuclear power.”

During his address, the Indian premier also talked of New Delhi’s concern for developing a new relationship with Pakistan to promote economic cooperation among South Asian countries.

With these comments coming from the premier just a few days ahead of his US visit, they probably carry a greater message than apparent. Despite the US looking forward to Manmohan’s visit as symbolic of carrying their bilateral relations to a new height, India doesn’t want Bush to expect New Delhi to toe Washington’s line on certain crucial issues. One of these is its nuclear status.

Manmohan’s apparent message is that there is no question of India backtracking on its proliferation drive and it is time the world, including the US, accepted it as a “responsible” nuclear power.

“We have voluntarily declared a no-first use (of nuclear weapons). We have voluntarily declared a moratorium on further test,” Manmohan said.

Besides, Manmohan drew attention to his government having passed a stringent law on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) so that the sensitive technology does not fall into wrong hands.

The premier asserted: “Nuclear disarmament remains our preferred commitment and there is no dilution in it.”

Projecting the nation’s security as an issue of prime concern, he said that India cannot achieve economic and social goals without security at its borders. Though the premier displayed concern about terrorism, he did not hold only the country’s neighbors responsible for it.

Taking note of the role of state and non-state actors in promoting terrorism, he emphasized the need for a sustained struggle against it and for combating socio-economic problems like disease, poverty and inequality.

“There are forces working for integration. There are forces dividing the world. There are some states who have themselves promoted the scourge of terrorism.... The civilized world feels threatened by the onslaught of terrorism,” he said.

With this being an era of interdependence, Manmohan laid stress on it being essential to develop cooperation among states to tackle problems like environmental degradation and chronic poverty.

Rather than letting Indo-Pak differences remain a “stumbling block” in enhancing economic cooperation among South Asian countries, Manmohan expressed India’s desire for a “new relationship” with Pakistan. “It is my honest hope that we can find a new relationship with Pakistan whereby, despite bilateral outstanding problems, we make cautious effort to resolve them. But if all problems cannot be resolved in one go, that should not block the possibilities of economic cooperation,” Manmohan said.

With the Indo-Pak relations having “proved to be a stumbling block in carrying forward the processes of regional cooperation, Manmohan said: “It is our effort to persuade Pakistan that we cannot hold back this process which is under way in many parts of the world and other regions like ASEAN, EU and Latin America.”

Of late, Indo-Pak ties have received a new boost, with the two countries along with Iran working seriously on the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project. While the United States has no problems with the new friendship between India and Pakistan, the super power is concerned about their moving closer to Iran. Interestingly, both India and Pakistan do not seem inclined to yield to the US stand on this issue.