The Hindu : `Nuclear tests helped change environment'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 14, 2003

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`Nuclear tests helped change environment'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI MAY 13. The National Security Adviser, Brajesh Mishra, today said the 1998 nuclear tests had brought India to the centrestage of world politics with major countries being forced to acknowledge its presence.

``One either changes the policy to suit the environment or changes the environment to suit the policy. The nuclear tests helped us change the environment,'' he observed at the launch of

`Crossing the Rubicon: The Shaping of India's New Foreign Policy' authored by The Hindu's Strategic Affairs Editor, C. Raja Mohan. The fundamental underpinning of India's relationship with the rest of world was based on partnership and shared values, he said.

Chairing the special launch organised by the CII, the former Foreign Secretary, J.N. Dixit, pointed out that fundamental changes in policy and environment had also taken place when Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao were Prime Ministers.

In Crossing the Rubicon, Dr. Raja Mohan narrates the story of India's diplomatic experimentation since the mid-1980s, one that has not been given its due. He examines the reworking of India's relations with major powers at the turn of century.

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