New Delhi: The country's nuclear establishment has rubbished President Pervez Musharraf's claim that India's uranium enrichment programme could have its roots in AQ Khan's clandestine network and former diplomats describe it as a 'sick joke'.
Rejecting Gen Musharraf's charge that New Delhi's uranium enrichment technology 'could be a copy' of Islamabad's centrifuge design, Chairman of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) Anil Kakodkar asserted that the entire nuclear technology has been developed indigenously.
"Our technology is based on our indigenous research and development and action consistent with responsible behaviour," he said.
Putting the entire blame of Pakistan's record of nuclear proliferation on disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan, Musharraf, in his book In the Line of Fire has alleged that several Indians worked for Khan's network in Dubai and India's uranium enrichment technology could be a copy of Pakistani centrifuge design.
Former foreign secretary Shashank felt Gen Musharraf's attempt was more to sully India's reputation. India, he said, has always felt that Pakistan was directly involved with the AQ khan network. More than 80 tonnes of equipment being clandestinely exported from that country couldn't have been possible without Pakistani military involvement, he contended.
Speaking in a similar vein, India's former ambassador to the US, Naresh Chandra, said Gen Musharraf's remarks in this regard were nothing but a 'very desperate attempt' to somehow throw mud on India's nuclear programme because of the 'great embarrassment Pakistan suffered by the exposure of the AQ Khan' network.
Pakistan having "centrifuge technology is a sick joke. They have stolen it from other countries, basically China. So, it is laughable that we will follow that route," he said.
Brushing aside Gen Musharraf's claim that he had taken the initiative to expose AQ Khan's activities, Chandra said on the contrary, Gen Musharraf was confronted with evidence. There was clearly 'a deal between the Pakistani military and AQ Khan.'
Pointing out that since 1999 Gen Musharraf has been in charge, he said Pakistan's strategic assets have always been under Army's control. "AQ Khan could not have carried out his activities without Army's support."
Shasank said India's record on the nuclear issue has been considered exceptional with important members of the IAEA having vouched for it. "India has maintained the highest standards of export control," he said.
By trying to put India and Pakistan on the same footing, Gen Musharraf has made an attempt to get away with some 'guesswork', he said.
While moving forward in the dialogue process, India must take into account factors like continuing levels of infiltration and peoples' sentiments, he said.
Meanwhile, the book In The Line Of Fire was on Tuesday ranked seventh on the list of best-sellers of online bookseller amazon.com. Amazon.com, which updates the list hourly based on orders placed, is selling the book at a discounted price of $16.80 with free overnight shipping thrown in.
The cover price is $28. Based the comments posted by readers, the portal gives the memoirs a rating of four out of five stars. But at least four readers gave it a one-star rating, with one of them calling it 'junk'. Five gave it an excellent rating of five stars.
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