Indian foreign minister Pranab Mukharjee has said that India is committed for nuclear non-proliferation. Talking about the issue of resistant voices coming from Pakistan opposing Indo-US nuke deal, he said that every country is sovereign and is entitled to have its own view, and so has Pakistan.

 

Adding his view on Pakistani opposition of the deal he said that India too is entitled to have its own view similar to Pakistan, and it does not agree with Pakistani perceptions that deal will trigger an arms race. India has no intention of entering into any such race. He said that India is interested in building a closer cooperation with Pakistan.

 

Talking about US’s cooperation in India’s getting NSG’s approval, he said that US has assured India for its help, and India’s expectations have been well documented and are in the public domain, in published documents. They all are in the form of 18th July joint statement, Separation Plan, 123 Agreement and the India-specific safeguards agreement (ISSA).

He stressed that India’s track record in non-nuke proliferation has been excellent since first test and has been declared officially after Pokharan II tests in 1998. And, further he said that India has already declared that it will not first use nuke bombs against nuke country and no use of same against a non-nuclear country.