New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was opposed to India conducting nuclear tests during 1994-96 on the grounds of 'economic consequences', BJP leader Jaswant Singh alleged on Tuesday.
The Rajya Sabha Opposition leader's charge came when the treasury benches were pressing him to name the mole he had mentioned in his recently-published book A Call to Honour.
"Signing of Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was the prominent issue of that time and Dr Singh, who held the Finance Ministry in the Narasimha Rao Ministry, had opposed any nuclear tests as it would have economic consequences," Jaswant Singh said, leading a surprised Dr Singh to term the charge as 'irrelevant' and asking him to name the 'mole'.
Mr V Narayanasamy of the Congress also called on Jaswant Singh to reveal the name of 'spy and the mole'.
Jaswant Singh maintained he had shared all information and the 'full text' with the Chair and he had sent the documents to Prime Minister in advance as well, although the latter was 'disinclined' to grant him audience and hear his views.
He said he would be authenticating the documents he had and submit it to the House.
Justifying his claim that someone was leaking information about India wanting to conduct nuclear tests, Jaswant Singh said it could not have been a coincidence that Canada, the US and France all declined to offer nuclear assistance obviously because of this leak.
"These revelations had put India under 'intrusive surveillance' of the US and India had to put off the nuclear tests on many occasions," he said.
"Even Indira Gandhi, who conducted the Pokhran I tests, could not repeat it in her tenure in the early 1980s because the US satellites spotted the ground preparations," he said, citing the autobiography of former President R Venkataraman, who had served as Defence Minister in Indira Gandhi's government.
Jaswant Singh said that the NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee had conducted the Pokhran II tests, surprising the US and the West exceptionally well.
"These tests were by India were totally opposed by these countries. It is to the credit of the country that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi too had surprised the world in 1974," he said.
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