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Rao wanted to conduct nuclear test

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The three underground nuclear tests conducted by India on Monday indicate that it is taking its crusade against weapons of mass destruction like nuclear warheads to its logical conclusion, according to senior defence ministry officials.

They told this correspondent that India's efforts towards nuclear disarmament has met with little success due to stiff resistance from the existing five nuclear weapons powers -- the US, the UK, Russia, France and China. The rationale of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty have only legitimised the existing nuclear weapon powers's arsenal, and in no way contributed to the global disarmament efforts.

The overall reduction of nuclear warheads from about 50,000 to 20,000 can in no way be considered as nuclear disarmament, because even this reduced figure can destroy the earth 100 times over, the officials pointed out. They emphasised that equally important is the existing nuclear weapon powers's efforts to update each other's nuclear technology, to make them more effective. In this context, the US's assistance to China to update its nuclear technology has raised a question mark over Washington's bona fides about nuclear weapon proliferation.

The officials pointed out that the third dimension worrying Indian policy-makers is the clandestine nuclear weapon proliferation by existing nuclear weapon powers. The international strategic community has well documented, for instance, China's aid to Pakistan's nuclear programme. Similarly, the British and US aid in enabling Iraq prior to 1991 to gather the necessary technology for manufacturing nuclear weapons, is another case in point.

It was pointed out that of late, the international strategic community was surprised to know that a clandestine nuclear weapon power like Pakistan thought of sharing its technology with Iraq. Many in the strategic community also suspect that the Chinese are willing to share their nuclear technology with others within their overall strategic considerations.

Therefore, the officials said, nuclear weapons becoming a currency of power in the future cannot be ignored by a country like India. It was underscored that 24 years of restraint (after the 1974 nuclear test at Pokhran) shown by India proved to be a futile one.

The existing nuclear powers are unwilling to adhere to the letter and spirit of the nuclear weapons disarmament treaty. The Chinese arrogance in conducting periodic nuclear tests and perfecting their nuclear weapons against an unidentified adversary would not have restrained any policy-maker in New Delhi.

It was pointed out that in 1995, in fact, P V Narasimha Rao's government was about to conduct a test after having realised the futility of the disarmament exercise. But last-minute intervention by the US forced the Rao government to defer the test for the time-being, the officials said.

They pointed out that the short tenure of the United Front government never allowed this critical decision to be implemented. On the other hand, the BJP-led coalition seems to have made up its mind even before coming to power that India's nuclear capability must be demonstrated, to acquire the needed deterrence from its adversaries, the officials added.

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