But the current nuclear positions of the BJP — which ruled India for six years, made it a full-fledged nuclear weapon power and took the diplomatic initiative to end its long atomic isolation — must necessarily be judged by a different yardstick.

In his recent criticism of the UPA government, the BJP leader L.K. Advani reminded us how Vajpayee was the first to congratulate Prime Minister Indira Gandhi when she conducted India’s first nuclear test, Pokharan I, 34 years ago this month. Reflect a little on this statement, and you see the difference between Advani and Vajpayee.

In 1974, when Indira Gandhi’s popularity was at an ebb, many, including the communists, attacked Pokharan I as a malevolent attempt to divert attention from the many domestic threats to her regime. In felicitating Mrs Gandhi, Vajpayee demonstrated his readiness to put national interest above his own and those of his party, then known as Jan Sangh.

If he had chosen to follow Vajpayee’s example, Advani would be rooting for the nuclear deal and not letting his party oppose it in the manner it has. India had always enjoyed a measure of bipartisanship on core national security concerns. In the last few years, the two national parties — the Congress and BJP — had pursued similar policies on a range of issues from Jammu and Kashmir to nuclear weapons, from the boundary dispute with China to reclaiming India’s role in Asia.

Vajpayee continued the policies of Nehru, who founded India’s independent nuclear programme, Indira Gandhi, who conducted Pokharan I, and Rajiv Gandhi, who ordered the weaponisation of India’s civil nuclear programme. Much like Vajpayee, who took advantage of the preparations for nuclear tests by the Narasimha Rao government, it was the turn of Manmohan Singh to reap the rewards of BJP’s creative nuclear diplomacy.

... contd.