Hubli (Karnataka): Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on February 14 virtually blamed Pakistan for triggering the nuclear arms race in the region and said "security problems" created by it forced India to conduct the Pokhran tests.

"We will not use nuclear weapons and it was not our intention to conduct nuclear tests", but "our neighbour" moving ahead and creating security problems was "not acceptable to us", the Prime Minister said without naming Pakistan.

Addressing a rally after laying the foundation stone for South Western Railway Zonal Headquarters office in Hubli, Vajpayee asserted no nation could put pressure on it and that it would protect its own interests. "We are capable of facing any pressure."

Vajpayee said when NDA (National Democratic Alliance) came to power, it decided to strengthen the country's security and that "we will enter atomic era, if required, and build advanced weapons and atomic weapons to defend ourselves and not to attack".

"People said you could not do this (nuclear tests). I know Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi could not do. I know they wanted to do. But there used to be pressure at the eleventh hour," Vajpayee said.

However, he said his government did not bother about any pressure. "We did not even allow anyone to know that we are conducting nuclear tests and we succeeded."

Vajpayee said. "Our one neighbour keeps on creating problems" but they were themselves trapped in problems.

"We want to have friendly relations. Neither we nor they will go anywhere. We have to live together. But this is not acceptable to it," he said.

PTI