Wisner impressed by Vajpayee’s "restraint"

WASHINGTON, March 24: Former US ambassador to India Frank Wisner has called for a dialogue between the United States and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government on the nuclear issue which, he said, would continue to be a focus of interest and concern for policy-makers around the world. Replying to questions after his speech on the political situation in India at the Henry Stimson centre here yesterday, he drew comfort at the restraint shown by Prime Minister A B Vajpayee in one of his latest statements wherein the latter merely spoke of his government taking a fresh look at the sensitive issue. Vajpayee did not say that he would rush to exercise the nuclear option, he explained.

Wisner made these observations when asked to comment on the new government’s public declaration that it would reevaluate India’s nuclear policy and exercise the option to induct nuclear weapons. Conscious of the fact that non-proliferation has been a major thrust of the clinton administration’s foreign policy and also a sore pointin the otherwise improving Indo-US relations, Wisner said “the subject should be left to our governments to be discussed in private.” In the run up of US President Bill Clinton’s visit to India this year end, he pointed out, the two governments had to compare notes to avoid surprises. He favoured discretion in dealing with the problem of Weapons of Mass Destruction and their delivery systems.