Few months before the Operation Shakti, in which India tested nuclear weapons in May, 1998. The former Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee, during his election campaign, on 25 February declared that their government would, “take back that part of Kashmir that is under Pakistan’s occupation”. It was clear that long before India became a nuclear weapons state, it had the intentions to openly threat, deploy and use the nuclear weapons against neighboring countries to achieve the national interests.
Similarly, in 2012, to sabotage the Sri Lankan trade route opportunities and objectives to build nuclear power generation capacity with the help of China and Pakistan, respectively. Credible intelligence information indicated that India has deployed Agni series missiles to target strategic locations in Sri Lanka. Though India had denied any such claims but the purpose was to threat Sri Lanka to refrain from friendly relations with China or Pakistan.
Likewise, last year India deployed BrahMos missile series on the borders linked with China. BrahMos missiles were made by India with the help of Russia. It shows that India will use any kind of advanced technology, i.e., uranium, space or missile, given by foreign countries for peaceful purposes to build up military capabilities and then to threat neighboring countries. China’s Defence Ministry rightly questions the Indian intentions, along with a hope that instead of creating hostility in the region, India will put more efforts to promote peace and stability.
However, it only seems to be a hope because since 1974, India is continuing the path to violate the nuclear nonproliferation regimes. Undoubtedly, India is pushing the nuclear arms race further as compared to Pakistan or China, probability ration of the missile tests is 3:1/1, respectively. Disturbingly, the director of India’s Defense Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), K Jayaraman told that Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Defense, is planning to increase missile production capacity rate to 100 per month and is currently producing 50-60 indigenously-developed Akash missiles per month.
India has the fastest growing nuclear weapon and missile programs in the world, which is not only dangerous for the regional but world peace because of intolerance and poor nuclear security, and safety. India has developed a nuclear triad of bombers, missiles and submarine capable of firing nuclear weapons. The Indian triad consists of 400-600 nuclear weapons including the thermonuclear weapons and this will increase the insecurity among the regional states.
In order to complete this triad, India is rapidly expanding its nuclear weapons program under many covert projects. Such as, it is operating a plutonium production reactor, Dhruva, and a uranium enrichment facility, which are not subject to IAEA safeguards. India is building South Asia largest military complex of nuclear centrifuges, atomic-research laboratories. This facility will give India ability to make many large-yield nuclear arms & hydrogen bombs. Dr R. Rajaraman, an Indian nuclear physicist at JNU expressed that “India does possess around two tonnes of reactor grade plutonium which can make between 300-400 nuclear bombs”.
Dr Bharat Karnad, a security expert at the Centre for Policy Research also admitted that “We have weapon grade plutonium in our possession. All it needs is to be reprocessed. Once this fissile material is converted into energy, it can blow us all to smithereens on Ground Zero”. Crispin Rovere, member of Australia Labor Party also believe that India has a plan to test, a powerful thermonuclear weapon due to the failure in first attempt.
In the back drop of Indo-U.S. nuclear cooperation agreement, undisclosed plutonium reserves were not inspected and were left with Indian weapons development facilities. Al Jazeera and Foreign Policy investigation reports also specified that India is secretly building a nuclear enrichment complex in Challakere to escalate arms race and to deeply unsettle China and Pakistan. It will covertly triple the number of nuclear warheads in coming years from what India possess today. Currently, a huge segment in India is pushing for a policy change to use nuclear weapons first against all states. The sole purpose of Indian policies is to somehow force its hegemony and thus it is wrong to say that India is living in a dangerous neighborhood, in fact, the truth is all other regional states are living with a dangerous neighbor, India.
In past many years, likeminded western and Indian writers are trying to divert the attention of international community from the fastest growing Indian nuclear weapons program and threats associated with it to the peaceful neighboring countries. Now it is time for international community to realize the dangers, if India is given the membership of NSG.