HVK Archives: India's N-tests put Big 5 in the dock, expose their hypocrisy
India's N-tests put Big 5 in the dock, expose their hypocrisy - The Times of India
L.K. Sharma
()
May 13, 1998
Title: India's N-tests put Big 5 in the dock, expose their hypocrisy
Author: L.K. Sharma
Publication: The Times of India
Date: May 13, 1998
The bomb has been tested. In the coming days, it will be the
turn of India's nerves.
As an early campaigner for universal nuclear disarmament, India
way note that where its words over the years failed, its Pokhran
action may succeed - in promoting the cause in the long run. The
Indian tests have put the nuclear haves in the dock and
highlighted the case against nuclear "apartheid".
The issue has clambered onto the global agenda in a big way and
the nuclear haves now face the fury of the nuclear disarmament
campaigners. If the reaction to India's nuclear tests has not
been as hostile as was feared, it is thanks to the double
standards and hypocrisy practised by the nuclear weapons powers.
The British media on Tuesday carried opinion pieces which though
critical of India's action, made the nuclear weapon states their
main target. Dan Plesch of the disarmament group Basic said the
reactions of the nuclear Big Five United States, Britain, Russia,
China and France - only expose a basic hypocrisy, like the U.S.
saying, "Do as we say, not as we do."
The official British reaction is interesting. The Labour
government abstained from reacting while the news was hot and
only much later issued a statement - in the name of the European
Presidency which it holds currently.
Earlier on the CTBT issue, despite all the friendliness of the
previous Tory , government, a British diplomat had taken it upon
himself to act like a battering ram for the Americans. The Blair
government is no stranger to the nuclear hypocrisy of the weapon
states because it includes some erstwhile campaigners for nuclear
disarmament.
The statement issued by the Presidency expresses "dismay" at the
news of the Indian nuclear tests. It says the European Union is
fully committed to the implementation of the Non-Proliferation
Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and has a strong
interest in the peace and stability of South Asia, and is
concerned about the risk of nuclear and missile proliferation.
Paris too was in no great hurry to react because it had suffered
strong criticism when it conducted its own "final" series of
nuclear blasts in 1995-96. In a late night statement, Paris
stopped short of condemning India and urged it to join a global
ban on nuclear weapons testing.
The Indian official statement clearly indicates that a post-test
strategy has been thought through. But India may not be able to
follow the test-and-sign strategy of France and China because its
tests notwithstanding, the nuclear haves will not officially
admit it into their club. The club of nuclear weapon states is
not open to latecomers. Hence it remains to be seen whether India
will be allowed to join the nuclear establishment, thus
qualifying for a seat on the U.N. security council!
India's promise certainly creates an opportunity for
renegotiation of the CTBT which New Delhi had refused to sign.
The treaty had attracted much attention when it was negotiated,
but its fate hangs in balance as powerful countries drag their
feet over its ratification.
It is because of India's long-standing opposition to join any
discriminatory regime that today its critics are unable to accuse
it of any breach of commitment or international law. India's
Monday offer to adhere to "some of the undertakings in the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty" is based on the principle of
reciprocity which means that the framework of negotiations will
have to change.
New Delhi's initiative on this front will be seriously examined
by the peace campaigners who want to use the Indian tests to
highlight the dangers of the nuclear madness, even in a post-cold
war era. Dan Plesch who heads the arms control organisation
Basic, calls Britain and the US. "hypocritical". He says in the
Guardian: "We have a legal commitment under NPT to negotiate away
our nuclear weapons. If we want our bomb for ever why should not
others?" He regrets the paralysis in Washington and Moscow and
asks Britain to enter formal negotiations in the U.N. for the
elimination of nuclear arms.
The editorial in the Guardian says only an obvious progress in
nuclear disarmament will remove the justification for decisions
like those which India has taken.
Media comments here have extensively exposed the role of the
nuclear haves and more than one newspaper editorial has called
for speedy progress towards universal nuclear disarmament, a
cause advocated by India for long.
Back
Top
|
