On prime minister AB Vajpayee's assertion on Friday that India was now a nuclear weapon state, US state department spokesman James Rubin said, "We regard this action as another terrible step that further escalates an already unfortunate situation."

Reacting to the Indian claim to a Security Council permanent seat, he reiterated secretary of state Madeleine Albright's observation that it was "very unlikely in the current circumstances."

Pointing out that under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) a nuclear weapon state by definition must have tested a nuclear device before 1968, he told newspersons that the inclusion of a country in the list of such states would mean amending the NPT which "would be quite an enterprise."

"I am not suggesting we would even consider it," he said.

Rubin hoped India would refrain from"taking any further steps to isolate itself from the international community." On the issue of a Security Council membership, Rubin said, "They (Indians) should think again because Germany and Japan, two countries that we have supported for permanent membership in the Security Council, are members in good standing and they are both inside the NPT."

Charging India with being "engaged in a campaign of duplicity" to hide from American officials its plans to conduct multiple nuclear tests, he said New Delhi made "misrepresentations" and "misled" the American policymakers about its nuclear intentions.

"We did directly address these questions with the Indian government and the reaction we got was that they would continue their policy of restraint, and that they were engaged in a review.

"Therefore, when the nuclear explosive devices were set off in recent days, they were acting inconsistent with high-level representations made to the US government," the spokesman said. The whole situation "is astounding tous," Rubin said, adding, "we have been misled seriously by the Indian government on how they seem to care more about narrow political interests than the real role of India."