In an interview to the English daily Egyptian Gazette the Prime Minister also categorically stated that India does not want to set off any nuclear arms race in the sub-continent, wants to have ``best of relations'' with the United States and is against war with Pakistan.

In an obvious reference to the Pokhran nuclear tests, he said the onus of this lay on those who had continued with their clandestine nuclear weapons and delivery systems development programme despite Indiai's repeated warnings. ``The insinuation of domestic political compulsions is one that our detractors are trying to propagate. India's national interests are paramount and the action we took was to safeguard them,'' he said. Stating that he did not``subscribe'' to the view that China was New Delhi's potential enemy number one, Vajpayee said security concerns of India covered a large canvass. ``We want good relations with China and have made it amply clear that each side should be equally responsive to the other's concerns,'' he added.

Reiterating that ``India does not seek a war with Pakistan,'' Vajpayee however, said ``We remain fully prepared to deal firmly and effectively with any threat to our national security and have taken all steps necessary for safeguarding our security and sovereignty.''

All outstanding issues should be settled through dialogue he said expressing the hope that he would attend the forthcoming SAARC summit in Colombo and discuss issues of mutual concern with SAARC leaders, including Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif.

Referring to the CTBT, the PM said that New Delhi had already declared a moratorium on testing and was willing to formalise this into an obligation through negotiations with key interlocutors.

Vajpayee said India'snuclear tests were based on an objective analysis of a number of factors like its security concerns, continuing nuclear proliferation due to clandestine transfers, the international security environment and the role played by nuclear weapon states.