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Indian scientists say they expected Pak N-tests

P Rajendran in Bombay

Indian politicians may be very upset but the scientists aren't surprised. They knew Pakistan had the bomb and had braced themselves for the blast long before it happened.

"Like we feel we need a nuclear bomb for our security, they felt it was required for theirs," said former Atomic Energy Commission chairman Dr M R Srinivasan phlegmatically, adding that there was always a danger of a nuclear race developing in the region.

Asked about the differences in the Indian and Pakistan nuclear programme, India opting for plutonium, Pakistan for uranium, he said that India had plutonium coming from its research reactors unlike Pakistan. Which was Pakistan had to rely on the enrichment plant at Kahuta to supply uranium.

Dr Srinivasan said that though he lacked information on the matter, he expected only fission devices may have been tested.

He rejected suggestions that India could have gained more information for its computers than Pakistan did. A view also backed by Dr Deen Dayal Sood, head of the Radio Chemistry and Isotopes Group at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay.

"We should not underestimate them," he cautioned, pointing out that Pakistan was working with Chinese aid. If India had any advantage, it was because India's capability was wholly indigenous.

More confident was Dr Vijay P Bhatkar, head of the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, Pune, who said Pakistan currently lacks the supercomputing power to use simulation to replace actual tests. Which essentially means that they would not have the edge India does if it goes ahead and signs the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

BARC director Dr Anil Kakodkar and other scientists were huddled together in a meeting till late on Thursday night and were not available for comment. Others declined all comment till more information was forthcoming.

Dr P K Iyengar, another former AEC chairman, said though information was lacking on the Pakistani tests, the fact that that country had done it just 15 days after the Indians did meant they were prepared for the eventuality. "That means they were ready. Both countries knew each other's position," he said.

Dr Srinivasan felt Pakistan may have taken the step essentially to prove a point to the world and to India.

"But more important is finding answers to the problems of the lack of drinking water, health, education... I would hope both countries don't use scarce resources on weaponisation. There is the issue of poverty to resolve," he said.

Dr M R Srinivasan will discuss India and Pakistan's nuclear tests on the Rediff Chat, Friday, May 29, 2000 hours IST (1030 hours EDT).

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