‘India will do what suits its interests’: Rajnath Singh on countries going on nuclear test spree

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said that India will not bow to external pressure or influence from any country when it comes to matters of national security or nuclear testing.

In an exclusive interview with Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, Singh said that New Delhi’s decisions will be guided solely by national interest. “The future will tell what India will do. India will not be pressured by what the US or Pakistan are doing. They can do what they want to do. We will do what we feel is the right thing to do at the right time,” he said.

The minister also spoke in detail about Operation Sindoor, rejecting reports of third-party involvement in securing the ceasefire with Pakistan. He reiterated that India’s strategic and defence actions are autonomous and driven by its security imperatives.

On the issue of nuclear power, Rajnath said the construction of nuclear submarines has picked up pace lately.

“There has been a delay in the building of a nuclear submarine, but it has now picked up pace,” said Rajnath.

India has conducted two rounds of nuclear tests in 1974 (Smiling Buddha) and 1998 (Shakti). The second round of tests were conducted under extreme secrecy and took the international community, including the United States, by surprise when then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced those tests.

India has formally committed to a no-first use policy for nuclear weapons, meaning it would only respond with nuclear weapons and not start a conflict.

Rajnath’s comment about nuclear power came days after Trump ordered the resumption of nuclear tests. He has claimed that China, Russia, North Korea, and Pakistan have been testing nuclear weapons secretively. And Russia has also suggested it could formally resume testing after Trump’s announcement.

“Russia’s testing. And China’s testing. But they don’t talk about it. You know, we’re an open society. We’re different. We talk about it. We have to talk about it because otherwise you people are gonna report. They don’t have reporters that gonna be writing about it. We do. No, we’re gonna test because they test and others test. And certainly North Korea’s been testing. Pakistan’s been testing,” Trump told CBS News last week.

But there is no independent confirmation of such claims. As per available information, Russia has not conducted a test since the last days of the Soviet era. And North Korea is the only country that has conducted tests lately.