NEW DELHI : Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said India was free to make nuclear bomb keeping in view regional geo-political situation and its defence requirements.
Speaking at a seminar in Kolkata on Monday, he said "just as India has the right to make a nuclear bomb, countries who are against it have the right to oppose. Among the 185 countries in the world, there are big powers like the US and very small countries like Fiji and the Solomon Islands. All are sovereign and have equal rights.
He said Indo-US nuclear deal would not compromise India's independent foreign policy.
This nuke agreement was not a military deal, he said adding India was also following 'no first strike' policy announced by it after the Pokhran tests in 1998.
The deal, he said would enable India to break the nuclear apartheid.
He said when he was Defence Minister, he came to know that scientists from the Defence Research and Development Organisation were not being allowed to attend international seminars on the allegation that they were involved in making the nuclear bomb.
The nuke deal would reverse the situation, he added.
news by thearynews.com
