India was not engaged in the task of reviewing its nuclear doctrine adopted during the first National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.
Mr. Modi also said India was disappointed by Pakistan’s outreach to Hurriyat leaders, but efforts to build peaceful and friendly ties with Islamabad would continue.
Signalling continuity in India’s nuclear posture, the Prime Minister said, “While every government naturally takes into account the latest assessment of strategic scenarios and makes adjustments as necessary, there is a tradition of national consensus and continuity on such issues.”
“I can tell you that currently, we are not taking any initiative for a review of our nuclear doctrine,” Mr. Modi told Japanese media representatives a day before he left for Kyoto and Tokyo.
Restating India’s commitment to global disarmament and non-proliferation, the Prime Minister said Delhi would continue to work for the strengthening of non-proliferation efforts.
“As to the CTBT, we are committed to maintaining a unilateral and voluntary moratorium on nuclear explosive testing,” he said in advance of discussing civil nuclear cooperation with Japan.
India, the Prime Minister said, had no hesitation to discuss any outstanding issue with Pakistan within the bilateral framework that has been established under the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration.
“We, therefore, were disappointed that Pakistan sought to make a spectacle of these efforts and went ahead with talks with secessionist elements from Jammu and Kashmir in New Delhi just prior to the meeting of the Foreign Secretaries,” Mr. Modi said.
To a question on Chinese “expansionism” from the Japanese media, the Prime Minister said, “I am keen to work closely with the Chinese leadership to push the relationship forward and to deal with all issues in our bilateral relations by proceeding from the strategic perspective of our developmental goals and long-term benefits to our peoples.”
“I had a good first meeting with President Xi [Jinping] in July and I am looking forward to welcoming him in India. India, Japan and China, as major countries in Asia, have many common interests and we need to build on them to convert ours into an Asian Century by working together,” he stressed.
On relations with the United States, Mr. Modi said the relationship should not be looked at merely in terms of what India and the U.S. can do for each other, but more importantly, what India and the U.S. can do together, for the world.