After Manohar Parrikar stoked a controversy over India's 'no first use' nuclear policy, former National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon on Saturday said the Defence Minister does not have the right to voice his personal opinion on nuclear policy in public, especially when it contradicts the official stand.
Menon also said Parrikar's suggestion that India should give up its 'no first use' policy would not be in the country's interest both in terms of the strategic deterrent role of nuclear weapons as well as their role as weapon of war.
The defence minister does not have a right to voice his personal opinion on nuclear policy in public particularly when that opinion contradicts the official policy of the country, he told India Today TV's 'To The Point' programme.
Parrikar last week had wondered why India cannot say "we are a responsible nuclear power and I will not use it irresponsibly" instead of affirming a "no first use policy", remarks he said were personal in nature.
"Why should I bind myself? I should say I am a responsible nuclear power and I will not use it irresponsibly. This is my (personal) thinking," Parrikar had said.
Following the nuclear weapons test in 1998, India had declared a 'no first use' nuclear policy.
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