India ready to face any threat: Manmohan Singh

New Delhi, May 24: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the country is prepared to meet any threat to national security but at the same time it realises that the only lasting solution to any dispute can be achieved through dialogue.

''There should be no doubt in anyone's mind that we are prepared and determined to deal with any threat to our national security in the appropriate manner... Our armed forces are always ready to deal with any such challenge,'' he said last evening, releasing a book '1965 War - Inside Story,' based on the diary notings of the then Defence Minister Y B Chavan during the 22-day war.

''Equally, we have the wisdom and the courage to say that the only lasting solution to any political or bilateral dispute is one that is negotiated through dialogue and discussion, and is arrived at honourably and to the satisfaction of all,'' he maintained.

The book highlighted the mature and balanced relationship that existed, and continued to exist in our country between our political and military leadership, he said.

India stood as a shining example of a democracy with highly professional armed forces, working in a disciplined manner under civilian leadership, the Prime Minister said.

''We have good reasons to be proud of this inheritance of our freedom movement and we must jealously guard it. All around us, and in much of the developing world, we see short-lived experiments in democracy snuffed out by soldiers in uniform,'' he mentioned.

The Prime Minister said the book showed that the civil-military relationship was normal not only during peace time but even during the times of national crisis and war.

''The 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars were important tests for a newly liberated, poor developing country like ours. Given the fact that we were still a young nation, barely integrated, such external threats could have been used to upset the balance in the civil-military relationship,'' he added.

''If this did not happen it was because of the wisdom of our national leadership and the maturity and patriotism of our military leaders. They worked together and stood as one, and the fundamental basis of our democratic and republican constitution was never questioned. We should feel truly proud of this heritage,'' Dr Singh said.

The Prime Minister said he was struck by the sagacity and wisdom, Mr Chavan showed on the issues of India-Pakistan relations and Jammu and Kashmir. ''Yashwantraoji took a determined and considered view that there could on be military solution to the Kashmir issue and was convinced that any lasting solution had to be a politically negotiated one.'' Complimenting Mr R D Pradhan, who worked as Mr Chavan's private secretary, for writing the book, Dr Singh said civil servants had a responsibility to record for posterity the factors that shaped decision-making on important issues.

Speaking about what provoked him into writing the book, Mr Pradhan said recently some allegations had been made that Indian operational plans relating to the 1965 Indo-Pak war had been sold to Pakistanis.

''I found no evidence of this. There is no truth in the claim,'' he said.

Mr Pradhan, an IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, was union Home Secretary in the Rajiv Gandhi government and played a major role in the signing of the Assam and Mizoram peace accords. He was also a Governor of Arunachal Pradesh.

Defence Minister A K Antony, Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh, union ministers, MPS, present and former service chiefs and senior defence ministry officials were present at the book release function held at the PM's residence.

UNI