Naval Chief dismisses top scientist's views on Pokhran-II

Dismissing a top scientist's contention that the country needed to carry out further atomic tests as Pokharan II was not a full success, Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta said India's nuclear deterrence capabilities were "proven and capable enough".

Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta on Thursday said India's nuclear deterrence capabilities were "proven and capable enough", dismissing a top scientist's contention that the country needed to carry out further atomic tests as Pokharan II in 1998 was not a full success.

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"As far we are concerned, we go by the views of the scientists. They have given us certain capability and that is capable enough to provide deterrence and they are proven," said Mehta when asked about the capabilities of India's nuclear arsenal.

Mehta added that as a nation following the 'no first strike' policy, he said that "we are nation that maintains a credible deterrence and that is more than enough to deter anybody."

On Wednesday, K Santhanam, senior scientist and Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO) representative for Pokhran II had said that India should not sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) as the country needed to carry out more tests since the Thermonuclear tests in 1998 had failed to produce the desired results.