India on Monday rejected US President Barack Obama’s advice to ensure that its military doctrine does not move “in the wrong direction”.
New Delhi, however, echoed US President’s remark that tacitly expressed concern over development and deployment of short-range tactical nuclear weapons by Pakistan and increased possibility of the terrorists and other non-state actors getting access to them.
Obama had advised both India and Pakistan to eschew aggressive military doctrines. He told a news conference at the end of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington that US would like to see India and Pakistan making it sure that the military doctrine developed by them were not “continually moving in the wrong direction”.
New Delhi strongly reacted, with the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Vikas Swarup, stating that the US President’s advice reflected “a lack of understanding” of the “defence posture” of India. “Conventionally, India has never initiated military action against any neighbour. We also have a no-first use nuclear weapons policy.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the delegation from India at the Nuclear Security Summit, which was held in Washington on March 31 and April 1.
“Since the context was the Nuclear Security Summit, the (American) President’s own remark that ‘expanding nuclear arsenals in some countries, with more small tactical nuclear weapons which could be at greater risk of theft’ sums up the focus of global concern,” Swarup said.