'India's reaction has been hasty, premature and over-enthusiastic'

As soon as American President George W Bush announced what he called his 'strategic vision' of having an American National Missile Defence Plan, India rushed to say 'bravo'.

India's sudden response, much before the rest of the world reacted, was seen as a sign of diplomatic immaturity. Basically, the American plan is to have a defensive umbrella to ensure that missile attacks against it are destroyed before hitting the target. Both China and Russia are against the programme.

Bush's new scheme is a topic of a deeply divisive debate both within and outside the United States. While the US's allies have reacted nervously to the missile plan, Russia has warned that the scheme could send the world hurtling towards a nuclear arms race.

However, India seems to have had no such reservations.

In an interview with Ramesh Menon, former army chief, General Shankar Roychowdhury (retd), speaks about India's hasty decision to hail the missile defence plan.

Why do you think India was so keen to go in for an unequivocal acclamation of the US president's new, so-called strategic vision?

I think India's reaction has been very hasty. We should have been more guarded. We should have first seen what was in it for us. If USA approves something, it does not mean that it is the beginning of a new world. Or even the end of it. They do things because it suits their interests. Or because we fit in into their scheme of things. But the question is -- are we fitting in into our own scheme of things?

India's reaction has been hasty, premature and over-enthusiastic.

We should just have welcomed an opportunity for discussion on it if we needed to have reacted. But there was no need to react. But we did for some reason. God knows why.

We reacted before the rest of the world did?

Yeah, before the rest of the world. I wonder why. Jaswant Singh is actually a level headed person. But policy decisions seem to be taken just like that.

Government sources say it was just a diplomatic move...

There are no permanent friends, there are no permanent enemies. There are only permanent national interests. It is not in our national interests to be very close to one country. In a multilateral world, we have to learn to build our own strengths.

I will use a word which unfortunately has got very negative connotation -- Swadeshi. Nowadays, I call it the 'S' word as people are even apprehensive of uttering the word. But that is the only way.

India has to become a power centre in its own right. We are big enough to do it. Certainly, we should be friends with people. Diplomacy is important. But our own interests should be more important.

Do you thematically agree with the new missile scheme?

I feel it does not make a real difference. Firstly, is such a system feasible? The famous Star Wars was technologically not feasible but American scientists kept making inflated claims and gave downright false stories just to get more funds for research. America is the only country today with resources for such things. What was Star Wars all about? It was really an anti-missile -- missile defence -- system. Detect the missile by radar and knock it off.

Before it hits you?

Before it hits you and also when it is sufficiently far away from you. Now America can have a shield and then say they would cut down the number of missiles. And so other countries against whom American missiles are targeted, will therefore increase their number of missiles to break through and saturate the anti-ballistic defence system. That will be the standard strategy.

There is bound to be international repercussions?

That will affect Russia, which will in turn affect western Europe. It will affect China. It will affect us. Whether we get into an arms race is really a moot point unless China develops an anti- ballistic missile of its own. We must work out the quantum of deterrence we are content with. And a shield of anti-ballistic missiles can only reduce that quantum of deterrence. If China develops one of her own, then we have to think.

The quick government reaction sent out waves of surprise.

We need to see if we are going to benefit from supporting the United States.

Was it just diplomacy that made India react like this?

We should be friends with the Americans. We should be friends with the Russians. We should be friends with the Pakistanis. But that does not always work. It all depends on what is in it for you. That is what should guide us in making decisions.

I cannot see some national interest being served in our reaction to the American missile defence system.

What is happening on the ground now as far as India's reaction goes? There is a top American military official coming soon to India.

I believe that General Henry H Shelton, the senior most military figure in the United States is coming here to talk to India on military cooperation. Military cooperation for what? As far as the US is concerned, we have a programme of military cooperation only to the extent of training. The US training systems are good but are not relevant to us. But it broadens the perception of our upcoming officers.

We have no American equipment. Unless we want to have American technology flowing into our Defence Research and Development Organisation. That is one possibility. But as far as weapons systems are considered, our weapons are oriented towards Russia.

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