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'Minimum nuclear deterrant guides India's nuke policy'

India said Friday that its talks with the United States were guided by New Delhi's need to possess a "minimum nuclear deterrent."

"Our dialogue with the US government on the nuclear issue as well as with other countries is predicated on India having a credible minimum deterrent," a foreign ministry spokesman told reporters in New Delhi.

His statement was in response to reported remarks made by John Holum, US President Bill Clinton's chief adviser on proliferation. Holum was quoted as saying that the Clinton administration was unable to declare India a nuclear power despite its nuclear tests in May 1998.

The US had also urged India to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. But the discussions so far have produced little progress, with India insisting on its right to decide its minimum nuclear deterrent.

Washington and New Delhi have held 10 rounds of talks on the issue without reaching at any concrete understanding.

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