Wednesday, September 27 2006 12:32 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The country's nuclear establishment has rubbished President Pervez Musharraf's claim that India's uranium enrichment programme could have its roots in A Q Khan's clandestine network and former diplomats describe it as a 'sick joke'.

Rejecting Musharraf's charge that New Delhi's uranium enrichment technology "could be a copy" of Islamabad's centrifuge design, Chairman of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) Anil Kakodkar asserted that the entire nuclear technology has been developed indigenously.

"Our technolgy is based on our indigenous research and development and action consistent with responsible behaviour", he told sources from Mumbai.

Putting the entire blame of Pakistan's record of nuclear proliferation on disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan, Musharraf, in his book 'In the Line of Fire' has alleged that several Indians worked for Khan's network in Dubai and India's uranium enrichment technology could be a copy of Pakistani centrifuge design.

Former Foreign Secretary Shashank felt Musharraf's attempt was more to sully India's reputation.

India, he said, has always felt that Pakistan was directly involved with the A Q khan network. More than 80 tonnes of equipment being clandestinely exported from that country couldn't have been possible without Pakistani military involvement, he contended.