I have repeatedly stressed that Indian web-sites exhibit unjustified
euphoria about our arms, economy and sundry achievements while missing
the big picture.
The disaster in the Agni 3 and Insat 4A launches is a painful
realization that we are not yet capable of targeting Chinese cities with
our missiles and our PSLV is incapable of launching any satellite
reliably. Thus if China decides to target our cities we would be
defenseless and unable to retaliate. High army officials have publicly
acknowledged that the quality of arms that the DRDO provides is
substandard and if there is a real war we have to fight on hope and a
prayer that the armaments will work. The Arjuna MBT is behind schedule
as is Dhanush, Surya, LCA & the ATV submarine. We can’t even make our
own Howitzers or their ammunition and have to buy Russian multiple
rocket launchers. There is a reluctance to license technology in favor
of finished product purchase to garner bribes and commissions for high
officials. The Arjuna MBT prototype has not been inducted into the armed
forces and is used for training while we rely on the Russian T-90. Even
Prithvi has not been tested ten to twenty times as western countries do
with their missiles. To go to war with untested and unreliable arms is
suicidal and to go to war without arms is foolish as China taught us in
1962. The suicidal folly is to delay the test of Agni 3 to please
America and do it only after receiving the go ahead from the Joint Chief
of Staff of the US, thus delaying the nuclear deterrent against China.
The equally bad folly is to agree to a moratorium on testing atomic
weapons in perpetuity while we have not successfully detonated a fusion
device.
Pakistan has bought the engines for its tanks from Ukraine and licensed
the technology to make its own. It has also licensed the technology for
Agosta submarines from France and now makes its own. It is in joint
production with China for the JF17 aircraft and has licensed missile
technology from North Korea. According to some estimates it has a larger
stockpile of nuclear bombs and missiles than India. Under these
circumstances only an idiot would sign a nuclear agreement giving up
testing in perpetuity, putting our reactors and breeder reactors under
intrusive IAEA inspection, shutting down CIRUS and Apsara, be willing to
negotiate a cap on our fissile materials and allow another country
friendly to and arming Pakistan to dictate our foreign policy and create
enmity between India and its energy suppliers.
Repeated objections by nuclear scientists at the top like Sethna,
Iyengar, Prasad, Ramanna, Kakodkar and others and repeated warnings by
defense policy mavens Chellaney and Karnad are ignored and no
information is given to the people or debate allowed in the parliament.
The usual sycophants, vested commercial interests and who knows which
politicians who have been bribed, deafen us with their chorus of their
master’s voice while stifling honest arguments and bombarding the public
with false information in the craven, conniving and corrupt press.
This brings us to the latest terrorist attacks on the Mumbai trains. It
is important to understand that Pakistan either directly or indirectly
through its surrogates’ network is training, financing, arming and
aiding the perpetrators. The attack on the Indian Parliament, Akshardham
temple, Varanasi, Delhi bazaar, Bangalore conference or the Mumbai train
network could not have been the act of an infiltrated terrorist from
another country acting alone. These attacks require local help in
providing safe houses, money, reconnaissance of the target, planning and
safe transport. This means that we have enough fifth columnists to
provide this help. This poses a real dilemma for a civil society with a
rule of law and minorities preferring allegiance to our enemies. This is
why even the mighty US is bogged down in a quagmire in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Obviously human intelligence from informers and secret agents,
wiretapping and police and intelligence may help, but it will not
prevent most attacks in a huge country like India because of lack of
manpower and financial means. This requires that the source and
financial, logistic and material backer of the terrorists be
neutralized. Pakistan must be warned even at the risk of war that
limited and pinpointed attacks with conventional weapons will be carried
out against the camps and routes of the infiltrating terrorists. This
may displease America but its idle talk, praise and support has no
meaning and we should do what it practices and not what it preaches, but
does not adhere to, just like the case of the NPT.
The current strategy of suffering tens of thousands of casualties,
economic and other disruption, talking peace with Musharraf, the
architect of Kargil, and toeing America’s orders like the prior demotion
of General Vij, voting against Iran and not testing Agni 3 when we are
not proficient enough and delaying needed aircraft purchases to please
America, shows nothing but mental retardation and lack of courage of the
Indian government. So let us stop bragging about India shining and we
will be a superpower and the third largest economy in 25 years and make
sure that we are still a viable country in the present and not a
spineless jellyfish helplessly paralyzed by fear, waiting for a
permission from an old or new viceroy to act.
So next time one of you runs into Atal Kumari or Manmohan Kaur who has
exchanged his Kada for designer Italian Bangles, just give them a
wink in response to their meek smiles and bowed heads.
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