A senior Congress leader on Tuesday said Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's "personal" comment on India's no-first-strike policy on nuclear weapons will attract strong worldwide reactions.
Parrikar's comments are against the official line and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has in the past said that India believed in the no-first-use principle, Eduardo Faleiro told the media here.
The former Union Minister of State for External Affairs said matters related to international diplomacy and state affairs needed to be dealt with caution and strategic sagacity.
"When our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) was in Japan, we have our defence minister making a statement that we have to rethink about India's no-first-use of nuclear weapons... The world will react very strongly against us," Faleiro said.
"This is why Parrikar's own ministry thankfully said that his comments are personal in nature," the Congress leader said.
Speaking at a book release function in Delhi on November 10, Parrikar said India should say it will use its nuclear weapons "responsibly" instead of stressing on no-first use.
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"Why should I bind myself? I should say I am a responsible nuclear power and I will not use it [nuclear weapons] irresponsibly," he said after releasing a book. However, he said this was his personal view.
--IANS
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