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India will maintain nuclear deterrent: Vajpayee

NEW DELHI: India will maintain a credible nuclear deterrent until all weapons of mass destruction are destroyed, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was quoted as saying on Sunday.

"Till all weapons of mass destruction are dismantled, we will continue to be guided by (the) imperative of India's strategic autonomy and the need to maintain (a) credible nuclear deterrent," the Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted him as saying.

He made the comments after inaugurating a 220-megawatt unit of a nuclear power station in the southern state of Karnataka.

PTI said Vajpayee also defended nuclear tests conducted by India in May 1998.

"Strongly defending India's May 1998 nuclear tests, he (Vajpayee) said they had been conducted under 'compelling circumstances' warranted by deterioration of the regional security environment," the news agency said.

Vajpayee's comments come before a visit by U.S. President Bill Clinton whose administration has led Western efforts to draw India and Pakistan into the global regime for arms control.

Washington has urged New Delhi to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, but Vajpayee said on Saturday India would not sign under pressure.

India has said it would be willing to sign the treaty once it had built a domestic consensus on the pact.

Clinton is scheduled to visit India and Bangladesh during the week of March 20. He has not decided whether he will stop in Pakistan.-Reuters