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Brajesh Mishra sent to France for damage control

In the first major diplomatic move to explain to the select P-5 and G-8 members the rationale behind India conducing nuclear tests, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has sent his principal secretary Brajesh Mishra to France as his special envoy.

Mishra -- a former Indian Foreign Service -- met French President Jacques Chirac on Monday and held a meeting with French Minister of Foreign Affairs Hubert Vedrine today to explain India's security concerns, which forced it to conduct the nuclear tests on May 11 and 13.

Official sources in New Delhi said Mishra's visit to the French capital was a preliminary diplomatic exercise to explain to the major powers at the highest level in ''succinct terms'', why the country detonated nuclear devices.

UNI

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