``This shows our commitment to non-proliferation,'' Vajpayee said, adding, ``We were not interested in testing beyond the required minimum.''

The five tests were sufficient to take care of India's security concerns, Vajpayee said. ``We are a nuclear weapons state, it doesn't matter to us if that is internationally acknowledged or not,'' he added.

Ministry sources said the committee meeting, of which the PM is the chairman, took up two subjects : India's nuclear tests and Indo-Pakistani relations. On the first subject, Vajpayee admitted that Parliament had not been taken into confidence over the dialogue being conducted with India's keyinterlocutors abroad, but that was because the dialogue was currently on and its contents could not be shared.

On Pakistan, members wanted to know what the state of the dialogue was and why India did not ``serve an ultimatum'' to Islamabad, especially if they were seen to be delaying progress on bilateral issues.

``There is no question of serving ultimatums,'' the Prime Minister said, adding that unlike what had been projected in some areas, ``there did exist some areas of convergence.''

He said there were a number of complex problems that both sides were dealing with, but they required patience and perseverance through continuing dialogue and negotiation if they were to be resolved.

Why was Jammu & Kashmir being discussed, asked one member, if the entire state belonged to India? Because, said the PM, it was enjoined upon both parties under the Shimla agreement to do so.

Why then, queried one member, didn't the PM take initiative on a ``political level? ``I have taken note of that suggestion,''replied Vajpayee.

Some members pointed at comments by the US, which said that economic sanctions had been partially lifted against India because of ``positive developments'' in the region.

They wanted to know if the word ``positive'' was a synonym for a ``deal'' in the making. The PM refuted the interpretation, adding that his government ``would not take any major step without developing a broad consensus.''

Interestingly, besides some BJP members who felt that there was no problem if India now signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), because the five nuclear tests had been sufficient to validate baseline data, one senior Opposition member also asked the PM why he didn't take the initiative to create a consensus on this issue.