Dhirendra Sharma
Nuclear Arms Race between India and Pakistan was at its height when New Delhi became a willing party to cold-war politics of neo-con Bush administration. Without Parliamentary discussion, New Delhi signed long-term nuclear deals with Washington. Besides, it entered into war-time game practices with the Air Force and Navy of the United States. This was clearly anti-China posturing as Indo-US Forces carried out 50-odd Sea-Air exercises, accompanied with the U.S. aircraft carriers. Admiral Dennis C. Blair, a former commander of the United States in the Pacific, justified the presence of 1000 strong U.S. Navy and its Military bases in the Indian Ocean for maintaining peace and security in the region.
We need not to repeat history but in the 19th century, phrase “the blood is thicker than water” was used by the U.S. Navy Commander Perry when in 1853, he joined the French and British Navy attacking China. Japan was invaded by the US Navy in 1850, and the Philippines and the Hawaii islands were colonized by the United States in 1890. Bombing of Vietnam and killing of tens of thousands Indo-Chinese citizens during 1960-70s are brutal reminder of the strategic Peace and Security provided by the U.S. forces.
Becoming a strategic partner with Bush administration, the UPA government violated Non-Alignment doctrine whereas Bush adopted “divide and rule” tactics. The U.S. encouraged Shia-Sunni conflicts in the Middle-East, fueled sectarian nationalism, and financed and trained Islamists forces with modern weapons in Pakistan, Afghanistan and in Kashmir and Bangladesh. It supplied high powered weapons to both the Arab-Muslim states and Israel. American agencies were directly involved in financing and arming Taliban forces against Russian presence in Afghanistan. On European front, the Bush administration revived the cold-war politics and encouraged sub-nationalism among small East European states against Russia. In the Far Eastern front, Bush maintained U.S. Nuclear strategic presence in Japan and the China Sea.
Admittedly, the United States has an important role to play in development and restructuring of the United Nations. Washington has the power maintaining peace and security in the international waters. But the Bush administration had lacked the will. In the long-term perspectives, therefore, the Indo-US Nuclear and Strategic deals are not in the best interest of world peace.
India is committed to No First Use doctrine but has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Instead, it has advanced a Credible Nuclear Deterrence policy and planned to construct nuclear shelters, equipped with electronic network linking nuclear warheads on long range interceptor Dhanush and BrahMos missiles. These will be digitally linked to a central command of Nuclear Defense War Council (NDWC) expected to protect us by retaliatory nuclear strikes. This complex techno-scientific defense system is called “Credible N-deterrence”, meaning –to deter a hostile state with capability of total obliteration of the attacking country. One wonders if the enemy were really deterred by our massive retaliatory posture, then there would be no nuclear war. What shall then India do with hundreds of unused nuclear warheads?
In constructing Nuclear –deterrence effect, we are repeating the folly of the Cold War pundits who regarded nuclear weapons as the currency of power. By 1980, Moscow and Washington had stockpiled 50,000 nuclear warheads with Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) capability. That could annihilate entire planetary existence ten times over. However, Concerned Scientists by then had established “Nuclear Nights and Nuclear Winter” paradigm that “a nuclear war cannot be fought, nor can it be won”. Consequently disarming, decommissioning and the safe keeping of thousands of useless but life-threatening Nuclear Weapons have now become the most complex and costly problem for the Nuclear Weapons States.
New Delhi government is busy developing long-range missiles and underground shelters. Self-contained bunkers, equipped with captive power, and decontamination module installed within the underground shelters. Radiation-proof shelters are meant to protect but 30 highly trained professionals, for a short-term survival. But in case of a nuclear attack these shelters would become expensive sarcophagus –stony Mausoleum. As the electronic system would fail the men inside would not be able to come out of the shelters. They all would experience radioactive meltdown.
God forbid, if any nuclear mishaps occur, India’s ballistic missiles Dhanush and Pakistani Ghauri with 2,500 km. range, will obliterate entire northern Indus-Gangetic plains of South Asian region. Waters of the Himalayan Rivers- Indus, Ravi, Vyas and Ganga-Jamuna would become radioactive. Towns and cities of the ancient land of Buddha and Gandhi will turn into radioactive dust. There would be no one to extinguish the infernos, no doctors, no nurses, no food, no hospitals, no law and order authority, and no clean air or drinking water. Within a few minutes – as patrol pumps will explode and offices and buildings’ furniture burn, all urban centers on both sides of the manmade divides would engulf in secondary fires. The nuclear warheads on Dhanush and Ghauri would very effectively achieve the Mutual Assured Destruction of entire sub-continent from Kabul, Kandhar, over the Hindukush to Kerala coast at the southern extremities of Sri Lanka.
However, Obama offers hope for the war weary world nations. In the emergence of Obama Effect, the neo-con forces have been beaten to history. The Democratic occupant of the White House has disavowed the cold-war strategy. President Obama has already cancelled more than $51 billion (billion) subsidies to the U.S. Nuclear war industry. And Obama’s New Policy offers better relations with Russia and China. The U.S. Secretary of State (Foreign Minister) Ms. Hillary Clinton has been visiting Russia and China holding high President Obama’s message of Peace and Friendship. Committed to Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Obama is not willing to accept the Indo-US Nuclear deals. And Hillary Clinton’s Foreign policy statements made it clear the Strategic cold-war politics is not to be pursued. Had the UPA government waited for this change in Washington, we would have been in the company of decent democratic forces. If any strategic alliance is still considered necessary by New Delhi government that must be resolved under the United Nations regime. We in India still have time to rethink our Nuclear Strategic Policy.
India and the United States – world’s two biggest democratic states, now can work afresh towards a strategic policy for Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation. New Delhi should revive the Nehruvian Non-alignment doctrine and strengthen the United Nations regime in partnership for Space-exploration and Advanced Science Research to overcome the threat of Global warming.
