DATE=5/11/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-43358
TITLE=INDIA / NUCLEAR
BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE
DATELINE=NEW DELHI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: ONE YEAR AGO TODAY INDIA STUNNED THE WORLD BY CONDUCTING
ITS FIRST TEST OF A NUCLEAR DEVICE IN 24 YEARS. TWO DAYS LATER
INDIA CONDUCTED TWO MORE TESTS. SEVENTEEN DAYS LATER INDIA'S
TESTS WERE MATCHED BY PAKISTAN -- SPARKING FEARS OF AN ARMS RACE
AND PERHAPS A NUCLEAR CONFRONTATION IN SOUTH ASIA. NOW, ONE YEAR
LATER VOA'S JIM TEEPLE TELLS US INDIANS ARE STILL DEBATING
WHETHER THEY ARE MORE SECURE, OR LESS SECURE AFTER THE TESTS.
TEXT: THE DUST HAD BARELY SETTLED OVER THE POKHRAN TEST SITE IN
THE RAJASTHAN DESERT WHEN THE DEBATE BEGAN IN NEW DELHI. WERE
INDIA'S NUCLEAR TESTS REALLY NECESSARY? AND WHAT SORT OF
STRATEGIC DETERRENCE DOES INDIA NEED?
ONE YEAR LATER THOSE QUESTIONS ARE STILL BEING ASKED. COMMODORE
UDAY BAHSKAR IS AN ACTIVE DUTY INDIAN NAVY OFFICER WHO IS ALSO
THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE STUDIES AND
ANALYIS, A POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTION WITH CLOSE TIES TO INDIA'S
DEFENSE ESTABLISHMENT. COMMODORE BHASKAR SAYS THERE'S NO QUESTION
THE TESTS WERE NECESSARY AND INDIA HAS NOTHING TO APOLOGIZE FOR.
// INSERT BHASKAR ACTUALITY //
INDIA SHOULD STAY THE COURSE. THIS IS NOT A TIME FOR US TO BE
APOLOGETIC. THERE IS NOTHING THAT INDIA HAS DONE THAT WARRANTS
ANY KIND OF APOLOGY. NEITHER IS IT A TIME FOR EUPHORIA. WE
HAVE TO STAY THE COURSE IN TERMS OF BEING COMMITTED TO
DETERRENCE BUT WE HAVE QUALIFIED IT AS MINIMUM CREDIBLE
DETERRENCE, WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT THOUSANDS OF WEAPONS.
// END ACTUALITY //
// OPT // PROTESTS ABOUT THE NUCLEAR TESTS FROM INDIA'S
ANTI-NUCLEAR COMMUNITY WERE DROWNED OUT IN THE EUPHORIA WHICH
FOLLOWED THE TESTS LAST MAY. ANTI-NUCLEAR ACTIVISTS WHO SPOKE
OUT AGAINST THE POKHRAN TESTS WERE GENERALLY SCORNED AND IN SOME
CASES THREATENED BY A PUBLIC ENFUSED WITH NATIONAL PRIDE. // END
OPT //
ONE YEAR LATER SOME ANTI-NUCLEAR ACTIVISTS SAY LAST YEAR'S TESTS
DID NOTHING TO ENHANCE INDIA'S SECURITY AND INDEPENDENCE AS TEST
PROPONENTS CLAIM. KANTI BAJPAI IS A PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL
SECURITY STUDIES AT JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY IN NEW DELHI. HE
SAYS LAST YEAR'S TESTS HAVE LOCKED INDIA INTO A DIFFICULT AND
COSTLY ARMS RACE WITH ITS NEIGHBORS.
// INSERT BAJPAI ACTUALITY //
THE BOMB LOCKS YOU INTO A MORE DIFFICULT AND MORE COSTLY ARMS
RACE IN FACT BECAUSE EVERYONE HAS TO RESPOND TO EVERYONE ELSE'S
MISSILE AND NUCLEAR PROGRAM AND CHANGES. IN FACT THE CLAIM THAT
IT (NUCLEAR TESTS) GIVES YOU STRATEGIC INDEPENDENCE IS A PEVERSE
ONE -- IT GIVES YOU THE OPPOSITE. IT LOCKS YOU INTO A KIND OF
TREADMILL THAT YOU CANNOT GET OFF.
// END ACTUALITY //
LAST MONTH INDIA TEST-FIRED AN UPGRADED VERSION OF ITS BALLISTIC
MISSILE THE AGNI-TWO. IT WAS THE FIRST TEST OF THE AGNI MISSILE
IN FIVE YEARS AND INDIA'S TEST WAS CLOSELY FOLLOWED ONE WEEK
LATER BY PAKISTAN TEST-FIRING AN UPGRADED VERSION OF ITS OWN
BALLISTIC MISSILE KNOWN AS THE GHAURI. BOTH MISSILES ARE
BELIEVED TO BE CAPABLE OF CARRYING NUCLEAR WARHEADS.
OFFICIALS FROM BOTH COUNTRIES DEFENDED THE MISSILE TESTS SAYING
THEY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH LAST YEAR'S NUCLEAR TESTS BUT WERE
SIMPLY A NORMAL PART OF DEVELOPING A STRATEGIC DETERRENCE.
MANY MEMBERS OF INDIA'S DEFENSE ESTABLISHMENT ALSO SAY THE FACT
THAT BOTH PAKISTAN AND INDIA GAVE EACH OTHER PRIOR NOTIFICATION
OF THE MISSILE TESTS IS A SIGN BOTH COUNTRIES HAVE NORMALIZED
THEIR WEAPONS PROGRAMS. ANTI-NUCLEAR ACTIVISTS IN INDIA SAY THE
MISSILE TESTS ARE A GOOD EXAMPLE OF HOW SOUTH ASIA IS HEADING FOR
AN UNSTOPPABLE ARMS RACE. (SIGNED)
NEB/JLT/PLM
11-May-99 5:35 AM EDT (0935 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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