Saturday, July 2 2005 13:19 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Asserting that India is a responsible nuclear power, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (July 2, 2005) underlined the need for blocking any further unauthorised proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Addressing the 2004 batch of IFS probationers at his residence, he said India was ready to cooperate with like-minded countries in this regard.

"We are nuclear power ... a responsible nuclear power. We have declared no first use," he said.

On the issue of economic diplomacy overcoming the problems with India's neighbours, the Prime Minister said that there were large number of economic complementarities and such processes cannot be stopped.

"There is a growing realisation that our countries are missing out the great potential that exist for economic and social cooperation between India and Pakistan," he said.