Condemning the "unprovoked action," Joshi said he expected "more mature behaviour" from the US government towards researchers and scientists. "Science and technology is an area for international cooperation and goodwill for human welfare. It should not be reduced to a ball game for serving partisan interests," he said.

Seven Indian scientists on deputation to the National Institute of Standards and Technology at Gaithesburgh, Maryland have been asked by the US Department of Commerce to leave. The Clinton administration's action has also come under fire from the country's topscientists who have described it as "unjustified and unwarranted".

The scientists, who spoke to PTI, were unanimous in condemning the US move which, it is reported, may also affect 75 Indian scientists working in American research laboratories on exchange and fellowship programmes.

"Scientists were not treated so badly even during the Cold War period," C N R Rao of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research said. "I used to go to many conferences in the US. And all were eager to meet scientists from the erstwhile Soviet Union even at the height of the Cold War. Now, without the Cold War, this (the US action) is happening," he said.

Rao who headed a scientific advisory committee to late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi said there was no need to be alarmed by the action, which he described as a "small aberration". He, however, said the impact on country's science and technology scene would be great if the US, which has the world's biggest S&T pool, came up with more measures against Indianscientists.

Commenting on the development, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) director G Padmanabhan, said the US government "has become paranoid". Padmanabhan described the action as "unjustified", but said it should be looked upon as a blessing in disguise, as the occasion could be used to develop advanced technologies indigenously.

On the impact, he said if the US kept up the pressure further, it would affect participation of Indian scientists in the United States, especially in strategic areas, but rejected the view that the Indian scientific community would be isolated.

"It's silly, childish and vindictive," said Professor D P Sengupta, professor emeritus in the Electrical Engineering department of the IISc. A strong critic of the nuclear tests conducted by India in May, Sengupta however said "it (the explosions) does not justify the American action. They seem to be so desperate to make us toe the line."

He said his anxiety was that India would end up in S&T isolation since the gap created couldbe difficult to meet but hastened to add that it would not be a possibility if "things work out". Rao said the issue could be solved with the US through diplomatic channels and urged the Indian National Science Academy to get in touch with its counterpart in the US and pursue the matter.

Expressing dismay over the decision, Congress spokesman Ajit Jogi regretted that the US administration was pressurising as many as 75 scientists to return home. "It is surprising to note that the US administration is ignoring the contribution made by Indian scientists for its own nuclear research programmes," he told mediapersons.