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Uncalled for concerns: Fernandes
By Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI, JAN. 11. India today reiterated that it was committed to the doctrine of ``no-first use'' of nuclear weapons and said that the observations of the Chief of Army Staff, S. Padmanabhan, at a press conference this afternoon had caused ``uncalled for concerns.''
``India's nuclear doctrine is very categoric that India shall not be the first to use the nuclear weapon, and looks to it as a deterrent. In the event of being attacked with a nuclear weapon, India will retaliate in kind, as any nuclear weapon country would,'' the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, said in a late evening statement.
He said that India, in the prevailing situation in the subcontinent, was pursuing diplomatic efforts in the belief that they would yield results.
The Government had not been talking of nuclear weapons. ``I wish everyone gives up this talk of nuclear weapons being brought into play. The use of nuclear weapons is far too serious a matter that it should be bandied about in a cavalier manner.''
The Army chief himself, the Minister noted, had emphasised that ``the nuclear exchange between two countries of the South Asian continent will be disastrous for the whole region'' and hoped that no sensible person would ever want to invite that disaster.
In a related development, the Army Chief's observations led to a fall in the Sensex by 19 points. The BSE benchmark 30-share index, that has been under pressure right from the commencement of trading, fell below the 3300-level around 2.45 p.m. following the news conference by Gen. Padmanabhan.
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