India: A Case of Power without Force
| Published date | 01 June 1975 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070207503000207 |
| Date | 01 June 1975 |
| Author | M.S. Rajan |
| Subject Matter | Article |
M.S.
RAJAN
India:
a
case
of
power
without
force
To
be
asked
to
contribute
an
article
on the
international
implica-
tions
of
India's
peaceful
nuclear
explosion
to
an
issue of
the
International
Journal
devoted
to
the
theme
of
Force
and
Power
was,
I
initially
felt,
a
little
odd,
because
the
Indian
test
both
was,
and
was
intended
to be,
the explosion
of
a
nuclear
device
(not
a
bomb)
for peaceful
purposes.
Nevertheless,
I
accepted
the
invitation
because
in
international
affairs,
as
in
human
affairs
generally,
intentions
cannot
always
control
the
consequences
of
any
action.
Neither
individuals
nor
governments
can
-
or
should,
in
my
opinion
-
permit
present
intentions
to
wholly
determine
future
actions
and
policies,
because
the
latter
are
determined
partly
by
circumstances
which
it
is
impossible
to
foresee,
and
partly
by
the
intentions,
policies,
and
actions
of
other
nations.
The
implications
of the
Indian
explosion
cannot,
and
ought
not
to be,
wished
away,
whatever
the
present
intentions
of
the
Indian
government.
I
The
prevailing
international
view
of
India's
peaceful
nuclear
explosion
is
so
befuddled
with
insinuations,
accusations,
and
threats
against
India that
it
is
worth
recalling
briefly
the
back-
ground
to the
test.
India
(under
the
prime ministership
of
Jawaharlal
Nehru)
was
among the
first
of
the
newly
independent
postwar
governments
to realize
that
nuclear
energy could be
as
significant
for
its
economic
development
as
steam
had
been
in
the
Industrial
Revolution.
India
therefore
established an Atomic
Professor of
International
Organization,
School
of
International
Studies,
Jawaharlal
Nehru
University,
New
Delhi.
300
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Energy
Commission
in
August
1948,
only
a
year
after
inde-
pendence)
In
the
ensuing
twenty-seven
years
the
emphasis
has
been
wholly
on
the
development
of
nuclear
energy
for peaceful
uses,
in
industry,
in
agriculture,
in
medicine,
and
in
power
generation.
During
the
last
ten
years
of
his
prime ministership
(until
May
1964),
Nehru
never
tired
of
condemning
the
manu-
facture,
testing,
and
stockpiling
of
nuclear
weapons
and
of
warn-
ing
the
world community
of
the
terrible
danger
nuclear
weapons
represented
to
the
maintenance
of
international
peace.
As
well,
he
firmly
committed
his
country
to
a
policy
of
harnessing
nuclear
energy
solely
for the
economic
and
social
development
of
the
country and
not
for the
manufacture
of
weapons.
It
was
also
during
this time
that
the
Indian
government published
a
pioneer-
ing
study,
Nuclear
Explosions
and
Their
Effects
(1955).
Then,
in
November
1964,
Nehru's
successor,
Lal
Bahadur
Shastri,
altered
the
earlier
policy
which
had
seemed
to
many
in
India
to
be
too idealistic
and
doctrinaire.
Shastri,
more
pragmatic,
de-
clared
that
while
the
Nehru
policy
was
that
of
the present
gov-
ernment,
he
could
not
bind
the
future
governments
of
India
not
to
change
it.
Since
Indira
Gandhi
became
prime
minister
early
in
1966,
this policy
of
keeping
future
options open
-
theoretically
at
least -
has
remained
the
policy of
the
government. And
I
believe
it
is
still,
though
since
the
18
May
explosion
official
statements
are
not
quite
so
explicit
on
this
point
as
before,
possibly
for
fear
of
giving
further
ammunition
to
the critics of
the
Indian
explosion
who are
already
suspicious
of
India's
future
plans.
I
have de-
scribed the
position
of
keeping options
open
as
theoretical
be-
cause,
throughout
the
years,
there
has
been
little
evidence
of
any
contingency
plans
for
manufacturing nuclear
weapons.
On
the
1
The
1948
enactment
was
subsequently
replaced
by
a
1962
Act
which
was
dedicated
to
the
'development,
control
and
use
of
atomic
energy
for
the
welfare
of
the
people
of
India
and
for
other
peaceful
purposes
...'
Inaugurating
the
Canada-India
nuclear reactor
on
16
January
1961,
Jawaharlal
Nehru
said:
'We
will
never
think
in
terms
of
using the
reactor
for
India's
progress
alone.
Let
other
countries, and
particularly
from
Asia
and
Africa,
take
advantage
of
it
and
utilize
its
benefits
for
the
good
of
their
people.'
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