``There is no question of parallel diplomacy. This is, in one way, helping and pleading the country's line,'' said Pawar, who is leaving for South Africa early tomorrow carrying a message from his party president Sonia Gandhi to the African National Congress (ANC).

Gandhi's message to the ANC Chairman, Patrick Lekota, assumes significance in the wake of recent diplomatic row between India and South Africa over President Nelson Mandela's reference to Kashmir issue in his inaugural address to the NAM summit at Durban.

The Congress Party had taken exception to Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, taking up the issue in strong terms with Mandela saying the matter needed to have been handled with finesse.

Pawar accused theBJP-led government of breaking the national consensus on the nuclear issue. ``We had no differences till the time when the stand was that the nuclear option is open. The National Agenda of Governance of the BJP and its allies spoke of induction of nuclear weapons. There was no consensus on this issue. Neither was it discussed with the Opposition.''

Pawar said the thinking of the Congress Party on foreign policy is that ``we should go anywhere with one voice. Now also we will go with one voice.'' Underlining the long-standing ties between Congress and the ANC, Pawar suggested that nothing much should be read in his visit to the African country and recalled that an ANC delegation had attended the AICC plenary session at Calcutta last year.

He, however, denied reports that he was to meet Mandela to hand over the message of the Congress president. During his stay in South Africa, Pawar would have meetings with the Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Frene Jinwala, Justice Minister Dullah Omar and a group ofexecutive members of the ANC.

The leader of the Opposition emphasised that his visit to South Africa as Chairman of the Pune-based Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI) was planned some six months ago. The purpose of the visit is to upgrade the working of the VSI, which has become a major research institute in all aspects of the sugar industry in the country.