NEW DELHI India said on Monday it had been forced to break its moratorium on nuclear tests because of a deterioration in the security environment, but stressed that no one country was threatened by the controversial step. Moving to dispel an impression of mounting hostility between India and its neighbours, the deputy chairman of the country's planning commission, Jaswant Singh, said there was no panic in the region.

Singh told a news conference there had been no undue military activity on the borders with arch-rival Pakistan and nuclear-capable China, and expressed hope for better ties with both countries. While the West kept up diplomatic pressure on Islamabad not to carry out a retaliatory nuclear test, Singh said Pakistan had as much right as India to safeguard national security. India can scarcely deny to Pakistan that which it claims for itself, which is equal and legitimate security interests, he said.

India provoked a storm of criticism from around the world last week by conducting five nuclear tests, its first in 24 years. The United States, Japan and some other countries imposed sanctions on India for its action. The 24th anniversary of the first blast falls on Monday. Singh linked New Delhi's decision to resume testing to its view that the global non-proliferation regime which had emerged was discriminatory and flawed.

For many years, we have conveyed our apprehensions to other countries, but this did not lead to any improvement in our security environment, he said in a statement before answering questions at the Foreign Correspondents Club of South Asia. As a result, we were left with no choice but to develop the capability that had been demonstrated 24 years ago. Singh said India would spell out its conditions for joining the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in talks with the five declared nuclear weapons powers.

(Reuter)