Monday, December 27 2004 10:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Gwalior: Disclosing that former Prime Minister late P V Narasimha Rao initiated the process of making India a nuclear power, senior BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee yesterday (Dec 26, 2004) said that the departed leader had asked him "not to fall back on the Pokhran project started during the Congress rule at the Centre".

"Before relinquishing power in 1996, Rao gave me a paper mentioning that preparations for creating an atom bomb were on and I should not fall back on it," Vajpayee said at the centenary celebration of Madhya Bharat Hindi Sahitya Sabha in Gwalior.

Vajpayee said that he went ahead with the Pokhran project despite criticism and threats from other countries and created the bomb, which has propelled forward India's progress.

After becoming the nuclear power, the international community started recognising India, he said.