Saturday, April 14, 2007

India Not Iran The Nuclear Threat


India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) but Iran is. Making India a far more dangerous nuclear power.

An Indonesian passenger jet was forced to turn around over Indian airspace after a nuclear-capable ballistic missile streaked across the sky, the Foreign Ministry said Friday, demanding an explanation from New Delhi.


But the outrage will be muted since India is America's new nuclear ally.

And amongst the conspiracy mongers in the Middle East this will be seen as a covert threat against Muslims by Hindus.

And like North Korea these tests show that India's ability to deliver nuclear weapons is still limited.

New Delhi: India's showpiece nuclear capability, the Agni-III was successfully test fired on Thursday. But behind the glitter of this success lies a money-guzzling missile programme which has dragged on for 24 years and still counting.

After a national investment of Rs 1,700 crore over a period of 24 years, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has the Prithvi, the Agni and other missile celebrities to flaunt.

What the organisation set out to do and promised to develop by 1995 also included the Akash, the Nag and the Trishul.

Despite a time overrun of 12 years and a cost overrun of almost Rs 1,400 crore, completion of these projects is still nowhere in sight.

The success of the nuclear-capable Prithvi and the Agni series has created a semblance of assurance in the face of technology denials. But there's a worry here as well: insufficient testing

Major powers have tested their strategic missile hundreds of times to demonstrate their reliability. But the Agni series of missiles - the mainstay of India's nuclear deterrence - have been declared operational on the basis of just three tests each.

So, should the world believe that India has a reliable delivery system for its nuclear weapons? Opinion is divided.


See:

No Nukes

Did Nuke Cause Earth Quake

North Korea Discovers TNT

Nyah, Nyah



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5 comments:

  1. Hi
    I wish writers like you were more balanced and careful instead of jumping to conclusions while posting news reports and slandering countries. India had sent a caution notice to Indonesia a week before the test. Kindly look at the following link http://www.rxpgnews.com/india/India-defends-safety-precautions-on-missile-testing_23632.shtml.

    And pray, how does India of all the countries become a threat by trying to have a defence system which is basically in response to its nuclear neighbours including your much loved China and fundamentalist Pakistan?

    India, unlike North Korea or even Iran, has never signed the NPT because the NPT is a flawed treaty that divides the world into have haves and have nots of nuclear weapons. By which parameter should nuclear weapon states like China, Russia, France, England, and USA keep its nuclear weapons and countries like India should not? We had border wars with China and Pakistan and for India it is more of deterrent than intimidation. India is all for a world free of nuclear weapons but let that be universal. Let each country agree to it starting with USA and Russia.

    If India had signed the NPT and used the technology to develop nuclear weapons, by all means castigate India. But which NPT law India had broken when it never signed the treaty in the first place?

    Unlike North Korea or Pakistan, India does not run a Wal-Mart nuclear industry. We are a nation of 1 billion and we are not some tin pot dictatorship where a handful of people run a massive nuclear proliferation racket. We are a democratic country and we have the right to defend ourselves.

    Please remove your blinkers and try not to mislead your readers. Try not to be one sided in your posts and above all try to be less judgmental.

    Regards

    Ketan Tanna
    Mumbai, India.

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  2. It's a game anyone can play:
    http://www.flyingbuffalo.com/nucwar.htm

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  3. Ketan: replace the word India with Iran in your argument.

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  4. You are comparing India with Iran? Iran has signed npt, India has not. India has democracy; Iran has its own quaint version of it. India has one billion human beings and is the seventh largest country in terms of size... India had tough neighbors like China and Pakistan... Iran too had problematic neighbors like Saddam till the USA decided to become a proxy neighbor. I wonder on what basis you are comparing Iran to India. And frankly, it seems to be that you pass judgments rather easily... logic and neutral opinion be damned... Being honest and taking an impartial use seems to be alien to you I guess

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  5. First off no opinion is neutral that is a logical fallacy. Secondly you have not read my blog or you would see I am critical of China, Pakistan, Afghanistan etc, as much I am of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, etc. etc. Why should China have the bomb? Because the U.S. does? Well thats a non starter. And how did they get the bomb, by illegal use of Canadian nuclear technology. Why should any country have the bomb? Your argument is simply put, Pakistan has one we should too, if Russia and the U.S. give up their bombs we will too.
    And that too is a logical fallacy.

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