Foreign | Swadeshi | Women

Nuclear Issue
by Dr. Krishna M. Bhatta
Dr. Mahesh Mehta
 

The BJP shall not compromise on national sovereignty and security. The current situation and regional war politics demand us to have a nuclear weapons program in India and the BJP party will take India to be a nuclear power. We do not wish to see India blown apart by Pakistan or China because we did not posses the deterrent nuclear power.

 

We, do however, believe in a comprehensive, universal and a non-discriminatory treaty of non-proliferation. We are also willing to explore the articulation of ^‹no first use^" statement. We will not be pressurized into signing a discriminatory treaty that is not in our national interest.

 

The congress party has the weak position on the nuclear policy of keeping options open. Where has this policy taken us. Internationally, we have been continually defending against having to sign on the Non proliferation treaty (NPT). We are under constant pressure of having to sign this treaty and sometimes claim victory by resisting to sign the treaty. Countries like the USA have shied from our friendship because of this sticking point. Some people don^"t even believe us on the point that we do not have nuclear weapons. After all recent admission by the previous Pakistan prime minister about Pakistan having nuclear capability has made world to rethink whether India and Pakistan are nuclear threshold countries or do they really have it.

 

The BJP does not want to keep anybody in the dark. We do believe in making India strong and be able to maintain peace in the region. With China and Pakistan having nuclear capabilities, India has to have nuclear weapons. Once we have the nuclear capabilities then it will be easy for us to sign a non proliferation treaty. Now we will examine in detail how we reach to the conclusion that India needs to have nuclear capabilities. We will need to go back in time and examine how other countries have acted when they decided to go nuclear.

 

At the center of the whole nuclear issue lies the longing of world peace. The reason given for its very existence was that existence of the nuclear arsenal will help in prevailing peace in the world. To a large extent it has proved to be true so far. The possibility of a third world war looks remote at the moment. However, we as the world have at present got capability of destroying the whole world several times over; thanks to the existence of nuclear destructive capability, most of which lies in the hands of Russia and the USA. We all have heard or visualized on the television the horrors of atomic bomb explosion in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. USA is the only country which has used this weapon in the history so far and rightly so is worried about its ever being used again by any body in the whole universe. Therefore, it argues for a treaty for non proliferation of nuclear bombs. The real question, however, is whether or not we need such weapons of mass destruction of whose devastation we have all seen? In fact the bombs that were used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much less powerful than what we have available today.

 

Does BJP believe in Peace. The answer is an emphatic yes. India has always been a proponent for peace. All our ancient literature (shastra) start and end with Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti. We do, however, say that we do not believe in peace at any cost. More important to us than peace is dharma and truth. More than likely , a deliberate de-arming occurred in Indian subcontinent after the Mahabharata when high technology was abandoned. We will fully support and comply with any plans to a nuclear abolition policy.

 

The treaty that is being touted most is a cut off treaty. This proposes capping of any further nuclear development. We have to look at it carefully. Who benefits from this treaty. Is it aimed at protecting the world or keeping the power with whom it already exists with. Does it provide undue advantage to our neighbors so much so that it will turn the balance of power and challenge the very peace that we hope to continue with our neighboring countries.

 

Let^"s look at the origin and development of the nuclear energy. Richard Rhodes has written a book called ^"The making of the Atomic Bomb.^' Alexander Sachs an economist born in Russia and eventually educated at Harvard took a presentation to Franklin Roosevelt the then American President on October 11, 1939. He took the famous letter from Albert Einstein which eventually led to the production of the Atomic bomb. Germany had already invaded Poland and widespread bombing was occurring. Roosevelt had appealed to the belligerent to refrain from bombing civilian population on September 1. He said ^"No theory of war can justify such conduct.^' As expected, Great Britain agreed the same day; even Germany, which was busy bombing Warsaw, concurred on September 18. It is interesting to note the remarks made in the book which says ^‹ Bombing was bad because it was enemy bombing.^" and the fact that the president had asked the congress to increase funds for long range bombers nine months before. It is interesting to note what is happening now. Over 40 years later the same group has been not only using aerial bombing, but have gone one step further. Unmanned cruise missiles are being launched from a distance. The argument now is to save lives of their own soldiers. War is no more a human affair, it is a video game. As if 100,000 people who died in Iraq had all been with Saddam Hussein. We are not trying to say that Hitler was right or thewest is wrong, but, the point is that India has to work for what is in its interest. Even if India signs a non-proliferation treaty, the credit will be of the US president. The person who signs the treaty may sell his country but will probably win a Nobel peace prize for the deal.

 

Coming back to the meeting of Alexander Sachs with FDR on the 11 th of October, he emphasized power production first, radio active materials for medical use second and bombs of hitherto unenvisaged potency and scope third. Quoting from the book directly regarding the response of the president:

 

^"Alex,^' said Roosevelt, quickly understanding, ^"what you are after is to see that the Nazis don^"t blow us up.^' ^"Precisely,^' Sachs said.

 

Roosevelt understood the then situation of horror of what could have happened if Hitler^"s Germany got the bomb first and the urgency and need to develop such a weapon became paramount to him. It was at that time in the interest of the USA to do so. Since then much has happened. Several countries have nuclear capabilities which include two of India^"s neighbors, China and Pakistan. Nehru tried supremacy without power and we all learned a lesson from China then. In the view of the BJP India has to have nuclear weapons to prevent itself from the probability of getting blown up. India understands its problems much more than some other country which proposes a treaty that is discriminatory.

It has to

1. explain and convince the regional situation to the world but most importantly

2. not succumb to pressures from within or without, which may threaten the sovereignty of the nation. Our intentions must be clear to us and then we must make it clear to the world. We, however, would sign a no first use treaty and comply with any non discriminatory treaty.