New Delhi: Senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh is finally ready to drop the bomb.
Taking up the challenge thrown at him by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to reveal the name of the alleged mole at the PMO during former prime minister PV Narasimha Rao's tenure, Jaswant Singh on Monday said he is ready to reveal the name to the PM on Tuesday.
Talking exclusively to CNN-IBN, the former external affairs minister, however, said he was disappointed by the PM's remark on the issue. "I'm disappointed with the PM's remark. I will reveal the name of the spy only to the PM on Tuesday, not to the nation," he said.
"I don't think the PM should have used the language he did, questioning my courage and decency. These statements are disappointing and do not befit the office of the PM," he added.
In a startling revelation last weekend, Jaswant Singh had alleged that there was 'a mole' in the PMO during the Narasimha Rao Government, and he was leaking information about India's nuclear programme to the US.
Singh, whose controversial book A Call to Honour hit the stands on Saturday, claims he has a 'letter as an evidence giving out graphic details' about the leak. Singh says, he had received the letter about a decade ago, but did not use it.
Singh told CNN-IBN that he has not 'compromised national security'. "I maintain that there was a spy in the PMO. The US still has ways to monitor India's nuclear programme," he added.
Talking about the 'secret letter', he said: "I did not want to sensationalise it. I neither used it then nor when we were in the government. I did not take it up with the US Government either. All governments do try to find what is happening in every country. Diplomacy requires information. Somebody in the PMO was giving information about India's nuclear programme to the US. I have shared the essence of it."
When asked whether he, as a responsible citizen should not have taken up the matter then, he said, "It is a call to honour, the honour of PMO was at stake. We were snooped upon and are still being snooped upon."
"If one were to read the letter in the context of the ongoing debate on July 18 agreement, about what the US expects of India, I am struck by the fact that the US policy had a continuity with regard to non-proliferation. It is India's policy that has not reflected the same continuity. I want the countrymen to know what the US really wants," Singh added when asked why he chose to reveal it now.
Responding to another query, Singh said: "I do not hold Modi responsible for Gujarat riots."
If it is proved that there was a spy in the PMO then it could prove a major embarrassment for the Government. However, Indo-US relationship has undergone a qualitative change during the recent times and it will all depend on what stance the Prime Minister takes.
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