At this crucial stage of international condemnation, it was imperative for the Government to have taken Parliament along with it, at least to present a united face to the world community. Unfortunately, the BJP's triumphalist tendencies, which manifested themselves in the jingoism following the Pokhran blasts, made it impossible for the Government to forge any kind of consensus, despite Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's desperate, if rather belated, efforts.

The anxiety in the Government over its political isolation at home revealed itself in the Prime Minister's appeal for support from the Opposition in Parliament. It was an extempore addition to his prepared reply to the debate and he went back in time to remind theCongress in particular that the BJP had set aside its political differences to back the government of the day over the first nuclear test in 1974 as well as the 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan.

In his desire for a show of hands from the Congress, Vajpayee called in the party's leaders in the two Houses of Parliament this morning, Sharad Pawar and Manmohan Singh. It was a last-minute attempt at pushing through a consensus. But as the debate unfolded on the Floor, it was clear that he had failed.

The stinging speech by former Lok Sabha Speaker, P.A. Sangma, now an important voice in the new hierarchy in the Congress, underlined the fact that his party was not ready to give even an inch to the BJP-led Government. And in the Rajya Sabha, Manmohan Singh was equally harsh. These discordant voices could not have come at a worse time for the Government. The international pressure on India on disarmament-related issues as well as Kashmir will only worsen in the months to come. So will the economic pressures ofthe sanctions slapped by the United States and Japan.

The Government's failure to get the backing of Parliament on its decision to go in for nuclear tests will make it difficult for it to handle these. In a sense, the debate has boomeranged on the Government for it served to highlight the sharp divisions among the political parties on the nuclear issue.

Having painted the Government into a corner, the Opposition is now getting ready to push home its advantage. An inkling of its gameplan came from Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav who told correspondents yesterday that the opposition parties would help the Government present a united front to the world, provided the BJP accepted its error in taking the country down the dangerous path to nuclear escalation in the region.

In other words, the Opposition, particularly the Congress, want the Government to consult it on any future foreign policy decision. The success of the former in putting the BJP on the defensive in Parliament has left the PrimeMinister with little option on this front. In fact, informal consultations are believed to have started already between the Government and the Congress on evolving a mechanism for closer interaction to restore the established convention of a national consensus on foreign policy issues.

"For God's sake, use diplomacy"