In her concluding speech at the end of a two-day meeting of the extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) late on Saturday night, Congress president Sonia Gandhi reiterated the party's stand that it was proud of the country's scientists and technologists and shared the concern that India must protect against external threats in a credible manner.

After a background paper suggested that the tests could be to derive political advantage by the ruling BJP with an eye on mid-term elections, she, however, said, ``We disapprove of the effort being made to convert a moment of pride in our scientific and technological achievement into a partisan campaign''.

``I have noted the apprehensions voiced by many of you that even though the Congress party has treated therecent nuclear tests as a national issue, the government is making a systematic attempt to exploit this event politically. The government ought to appreciate the fact that a consensus on matters of such vital national interest has much more enduring value than any short-term political advantage,'' she said.