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T V Parasuram in Washington
Defence supplies held up under various pre-and-post 1998 US nuclear non-proliferation laws may now be released as a result of the first face-to-face talks between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President George W Bush, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh said on Friday night.
He expected this to happen at the Defence Policy Group meeting in Delhi in December.
The way is also now clear, Singh said, for supply of additional defence items 'which we believe are needed for defence preparedness of the armed forces of the country'.
He cited terrorism, Afghanistan and military and defence cooperation as three main components of the joint statement issued at the end of the first summit between the two leaders.
On Vajpayee's US visit, Singh said, "I will say without any hesitation it has been a total success."
"The objectives we had set for ourselves -- the United States and India -- have been fully and adequately realised," he said and pointed out the Senate had welcomed the Prime Minister's visit.
Asked about the 'chemistry' between Bush and Vajpayee as they met face-to-face for the first time, Singh said he, of course, could only give his subjective view but thought the meeting was 'extremely warm, very candid, full of mutual regard, with the conversation marked by goodwill, candour and trust'.
On the need for expanding the six-plus-two formula to include India for discussing Afghanistan, Singh said if the group had succeeded, there would not have been the present problem in Afghanistan.
India's experience with Afghanistan, he pointed out, is not recent. Apart from its historical experience, Indian national security had suffered for 20 years as a result of Afghan-origin narcotics production and terrorism.
Therefore, in the future post-conflict dispensation, India's vital stake must be heeded, Singh said.
The six-plus-two is not an adequate instrument to meet the requirements of the future, he said.
The issue of Pakistan's cross-border terrorism, the external affairs minister said, has been adequately addressed in the joint statement, which refers to all manifestations of terrorism.
Asked whether 'the US acknowledges the right of India to hit back or make retaliatory strikes' to counter Pakistani cross-border terrorism, he said: "Please understand this is not a right or a dispensation or grant from anybody. If India exercises restraint, it is a restraint out of self-will. Nobody need grant India the right to retaliate because it is an inherent right of a sovereign country in the exercise of its sovereign will. It is not a hand-out or dispensation."
India's fight against terrorism, Singh pointed out, did not begin on September 11, 2001 (when terrorists struck in New York and Washington). Its resolution did not depend on crutches, he said, adding India's fight against terrorism is one based on values.
In fighting terrorism, India makes no distinction between acceptable terrorism and unacceptable terrorism, Singh said.
Related Reports: Bush-Vajpayee meet positive, productive: White House India, US to fight terrorism jointly Joint Statement mum on Kashmir, Pakistan | Text
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