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BJP respects all religions: Vajpayee

Dubai Sept. 5. Seeking to clear the misconceptions about the BJP, particularly in the Arab world, the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, has said the party, ``has never been and will never be a Hindu fundamentalist movement.''

``We have never had the narrow agenda of undermining India's pluralistic and secular system,'' Mr. Vajpayee said in an interview to Saudi-based English daily, Arab News, today. ``We believe in secularism, by which we mean `sarva dharma sambhava' or equal respect for all faiths.''

Mr. Vajpayee said the BJP is a ``national party and a nationalist party. It cannot subscribe to any narrow ideology based on discrimination that is repugnant to traditional national culture. We are wedded to the goal of prosperity and welfare for all our citizens irrespective of their caste, creed, language and religion.''

Mr. Vajpayee said India remained committed not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear States. ``India is not engaged in any arms race with anyone.''

PTI

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