Every country has right to pre-emptive strikes: Jaswant

WASHINGTON: Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has said every country has a right to pre-emptive strikes as an inherent part of its right to self-defence and it was not the prerogative of any one nation.
"Pre-emption or prevention is inherent in deterrence. Where there is deterrence there is pre-emption. The same thing is there in Article 51 of the UN Charter which calls it ''the right of self-defence''," he told reporters here on Sunday.
Singh, who was here to attend the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetory Fund, met US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Director of Policy Planning Richard Haass.
He said he discussed the "doctrine" of pre-emption or prevention with the American leaders and decided it was more an appropriate issue for academic discussion than for a press conference.
"Every nation has that right (of pre-emption). It is not the prerogative of any one country," Singh said.
"Pre-emption is the right of any nation to prevent injury to itself. Deterring an enemy from attacking you is inherent in Article 51 of the UN Charter. That is now becoming a complex academic discussion."
Singh said he had discussed the evolving situation in Iraq and the Middle East with US leaders at length.
The minister said he goes home convinced that the US seeks a strategic partnership with India and pointed out that this was the message US President George W Bush conveyed to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee when they met in New York.