by CKR
A representative of the Indian Foreign Ministry has rejected any restrictions on India's testing its nuclear weapons.
The five nuclear weapon powers under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty have committed to a test moratorium. Although India agreed to a moratorium in the agreement announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Bush in March, the Foreign Ministry is now saying that a moratorium is unacceptable.
The BJP Party has come out against the agreement, calling it "an insult to India."
Meanwhile, Jim Hoagland has interviewed Prime Minister Singh and found him friendly.
And he said he could not imagine circumstances that would require India to resume nuclear testing, an option that his Indian critics assert is a sovereign right. "Our scientists tell me they need no further tests. As for the distant future, I cannot predict forever, but our commitment is to continue our unilateral moratorium."
Either Prime Minister Singh needs to speak to his foreign ministry or Jim Hoagland needs to read the Indian press. Or even the Voice of America.