Plain Speaking about Indian Nuclear Testing
| DOI | 10.1177/002070209805300412 |
| Date | 01 December 1998 |
| Published date | 01 December 1998 |
| Subject Matter | The Readers' Column |
THE
READERS'
COLUMN
Plain
speaking
about
Indian
nuclear
testing
Ashok
Chakrapani
Whether
we
like
it
or
not,
the
recent
south
Asian
nuclear
tests
have
radically
changed
the world
order
as
it
has
existed
at
least
since
the
nuclear
Non-Proliferation
Treaty
(NPT)
of
1968,
and
probably
since
the
Second
World
War.
A
period
of
global
adjustment
will necessarily
fol-
low.
Although India
was
a
strong
initial
advocate
of
the
NPT
and
the
Com-
prehensive
Test Ban
Treaty
(CTBT),
its
eventual
rejection
of
these and
other disarmament
initiatives
was
based
on
a
desire
for
non-discrimina-
tory
international
agreements
which
would
embrace
both
nuclear
weapon
states
and
non-nuclear
weapon
states
and
be
set
in
the
context
of
the
complete
elimination
of
nuclear
weapons.
Despite
India's
efforts
to
this
end
during
the
negotiations
of
the
NPT
and
CTBT
and
in bilateral discussions
with
the
nuclear
weapon
states,
there
was
no evidence
of
movement
towards
elimination
of
nuclear
weapons.
The
United
States
and
the former
Soviet
Union,
however,
did
move
towards
elimination
of
intermediate
range
nuclear
forces
in
Europe
and
deep
cuts
in tactical
nuclear
weapons
and
in
the total
num-
ber
of
nuclear
warheads
possessed by
each
side.
When
it
openly
tested
nuclear weapons
in
April
1998,
India
gave
evi-
dence
of
what
had
been
known
since
1974:
that
it
possessed
the
neces-
sary
technology.
Since
it
is
not
a
signatory
to
the
NPT
or
CTBT,
India
has
not
violated
any
treaty.
Nor
is
there any
evidence
that
India
has
passed
on
nuclear
or
missile
technology
to
any
third
country
or
that
it
has
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Autumn
1998
0
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