India's Vajpayee writes to world leaders on nuke testing:By Kanak Nair

NEW DELHI, May 12 Kyodo - Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has written to leaders of the world's nuclear powers as well as to heads of government of Japan and other countries, explaining the background which led to its recently conducted nuclear tests, and expressing the hope they would understand and appreciate New Delhi's security perceptions. Amid widespread international criticism of the triple nuclear tests Monday and the near certainty of economic sanctions, especially by the United States, the Indian government expressed hopes that these countries will not impose sanctions even as it maintained that it is ready to endure them if they do. ''Unfortunately if any sanctions were to be imposed then the country will have to face them with its own strength,'' the prime minister's political adviser Pramod Mahajan told reporters. The Indian prime minister also reviewed the security situation in the wake of the tests with Defense Minister George Fernandes, Home Affairs Minister Lal Krishna Advani, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and the three chiefs of the army, navy and air force. The decision to conduct the tests was an extraordinary one taken on the basis of the security perceptions of the coalition government led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), and one which it did not expect the world to welcome, a Press Trust of India (PTI) report quoting sources close to Vajpayee said. Economic analysts said that bilateral aid and loans to India could be affected though Finance Ministry officials refused to comment on the impact of possible sanctions, saying it is too early to say anything. India could face a dangerous economic situation in the event of an East Asia-like currency crisis that could force it to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package, analysts said. India successfully exploded three nuclear devices Monday in Pokhran in the northern desert state of Rajasthan, stunning the world and inviting its wrath while within the country general jubilation prevailed among most people and political parties.