Both Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh made this explicit in their replies to the clarifications sought by members in the Rajya Sabha on a statement by the former on the Indo-US dialogue on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and issues of disarmament and non-proliferation.

The prime minister said that having conducted the series of necessary tests, ``We are currently guided by the assurance that our stand does not constrain our research and development programme or the ability to maintain the safety and effectiveness of our deterrent, now and in the future.''

Vajpayee's statement came after an intervention by Jaswant Singh who has been holding talks with the US on these issues. While maintaining that a national consensus would guide the Indian stand on signingthe CTBT, Singh said that there was still a long distance to travel on this score.

``First, there has to be a decision for which a consensus is necessary,'' he said. He also ruled out a unilateral moratorium on fissile material production and re-emphasised India's support for multilateral negotiations.

Singh came down heavily on the nuclear powers including the United States who were preaching to India with ``astonishing and unacceptable arrogance'' the opposite of what they practised.

He dismissed as ``myth-making'' the propaganda that Pakistan's nuclear tests were in response to the Pokhran and asserted that India would not allow Pakistan to ``ride piggy-back on the nuclear issue'' to enter the Kashmir valley. Pakistan, he pointed out, had become a nuclear state in 1987 itself.

Denying that there was any pressure, ``underhand or overhand,'' from the US on the nuclear issue, he said that the dialogue with US interlocutors had been guided by India's security interests alone.

On the question ofsanctions, Singh said that India was not approaching the dialogue with the US on a quid pro quo basis. ``We approached the talks out of conviction and not convenience,'' he remarked.

About the government's assessment of a credible nuclear deterrent, he said that this was not a quantifiable commodity. The priorities, he added, would be re-evaluated as the security environment changed.

The External Affairs Minister disapproved of US Under Secretary of State Strobe Talbott's ``violation of the ground rules'' of confidentiality of the Indo-US talks. He was referring to excerpts in a national daily of a speech delivered by Talbott in the US.

On the threat of denial of technology by the western powers, Singh said that it was imperative for India to rely on its own, either for strategic or non-strategic technology. He noted that no country would share strategic technology with India while only obsolete technology would be transferred as far as non-strategic technology was concerned. ``India will not go to theUS as a mendicant,'' he remarked.

Jaswant Singh to head talks

External Affairs Minister Jaswant singh will continue to represent India at the ongoing Indo-US dailogue on security-related matters, Prime Minister A B Vajpayee told the Rajya Sabha.

Reacting to Ashok Mitra (CPI-M) who wanted Singh to talk only to his US counterpart and not to his ``underling,'' Vajpayee said: ``We will not allow protocol to come in the way.''