Afia Ambreen
Hiroshima Day commemorates on 6 August when an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, followed a few days later by another dropped on the city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. While the bombings effectively ended World War II by bringing about the surrender of Japan, this came at a terrible price. The two cities were destroyed and casualties, mostly civilians, were estimated at around 200,000, with many more people dying later from injuries and illness. Hiroshima Day is now a focus for anti-war and anti-nuclear discussions and demonstrations around the world. Today a large majority of governments in the world have adopted a treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons. However, we still live with the threat of nuclear warfare by some countries like India.
Ironically, Indian appetite for expanding her nuclear capability has been increasing rapidly. It is reported by independent Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) that India has a stockpile of more than 100 warheads. Driven by a desire to match China and Pakistan’s Firepower, India has been desperate to expand its nuclear capabilities. In 2012, the world surprisingly came to know that apart from many facilities, India has built a ‘secret nuclear city’ at Challakere, Karnataka. It was confirmed by independent researcher that two secretive agencies were behind this project which is believed to be subcontinent’s largest military-run complex of nuclear centrifuges, atomic research laboratories and weapons and aircraft testing facilities. New Delhi has never published a detailed account of its nuclear arsenal and the world knows little about the construction at Challakere and its strategic implications. As a military facility, it is not open to international inspection.
The nuclear city close to Challakere would, in short, be ringed by a security perimeter of thousands of military and paramilitary guards. In July 2013, six years after the plans were green-lit by Delhi, the National Green Tribunal – India’s environmental agency – finally took up the villager’s complaints. It dispatched investigators to the scene and demanded that each government agency disclose its ambitions in detail. The DRDO responded that national security trumped the tribunal and provided no more information.
India’s nuclear programme is moving forward steadily. It secretly pursued nuclear weapons, as declared in the late 1990s. Yet the international community is still engaged with Delhi, constantly extending a hand of friendship, exemplified by different diplomatic measures such as the Indo-US nuclear deal. In order to mainstream Fast Breeder Reactor (FBTR), the department of atomic energy in India is gearing up to commission a nuclear reactor at Kalpakkam. But the safety inadequacies of India’s FBTR still need to be questioned. This oscillatory approach of India guarding its vested nuclear interests is something that the international community must be wary of, shaking hands with India through nuclear diplomacy, probably does not know everything India has done to protect its obsessive nuclear secrecy. New Delhi continues to sign nuclear deals, 16 in number until present, without being hindered by any of the nuclear non-proliferation purists. Despite not signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty, India has signed a uranium deal with Australia which has raised various important questions regarding the use of Australian uranium in India. As of 2016, India has signed civil nuclear agreements with 16 countries. Has India succeeded enough to bury its proliferation record over decades and shove it under the carpet?
Under these circumstances, it’s also astonishing how India is seeking membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which is a creation of its own disconcerting pursuit of nuclear weapons. Interestingly, India has been building its case for international recognition as a (normal) nuclear weapon state for years, seeking admission to the group, wherein the permission of an NPT-outlier like India would ostensibly to create a domino effect it would become a compulsion for states like Pakistan to opt for strategies commanded by their security concerns. On the other hand, it was also revealed that India has been busy developing a secret nuclear city. As a result, it is important for the NSG to abide by its criteria and remember that its decision would affect strategic stability in South Asia.
Moreover, in historical context one can generate a list of leaks, fires and structural damages that have been faced by India’s civilian nuclear power sector. There are abundant examples of oil leaks, hydrogen leaks, fires and high bearing vibrations which often shut down numbers of nuclear reactors in India. India’s nuclear establishment is hasting for nuclear energy though it has obstinately missed targets and delivered a portion of the promised electricity with uncertain safety. The Indian government is irrationally pursuing for nuclear power without explaining its destructive potential and answering critiques. Indian must review its policies regarding its nuclear program and its relations with the neighboring countries. This world needs peace not war.
