India secretly building nuclear submarine
By Khalid Hasan
WASHINGTON: India is building a nuclear submarine secretly, but it should do so openly as it is not breaking any laws, according to a retired admiral of the Indian Navy.
Admiral Raja Mohan told a meeting at the Brookings Institution on Thursday afternoon that India needs to come clean on this secret project and the United States should extend an assurance that If India owns up to it, there will be no adverse reaction from Washington.
Mohan was speaking on the emerging defence and security relationship between the US and India, in particular with reference to the recent agreement on nuclear cooperation between the two countries. He said India has the ability to outstrip China in the production of plutonium but has no plans to do so.
Turning to the Indo-US nuclear cooperation agreement announced when the Indian Prime Minister visited Washington, he said domestic opposition to the deal in both countries will need to be satisfied. This is one issue on which the ultra right in America and the ultra left in India are in accord. It will be for the leaders of the two countries to set the pace.
He suggested the establishment of a high-level panel which should have the authority to cut through inter-agency wrangling that is sure to accompany the implementation process. He argued that the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) has flagged and the Indo-US deal will invigorate it. It will be better to get India “into the tent” rather than leave it out, he added.
Asked if the Indo-US nuclear agreement opens the door for Pakistan to seek a similar arrangement with Washington, he replied that Pakistan would have to demonstrate a “clean record” for at least 10 years. As of now, nobody would take Islamabad very seriously.
Mohan, asked about Pakistan’s cruise missile test, said it was in January 1999 that Pakistan started work on this programme, but the test firing at this particular time is “coincidental.” He said Pakistan’s Shaheen II missile is without doubt of Chinese make. As for Pakistan’s cruise missile, it would have to be asked how a country with only 150 PhDs has made a cruise missile.
The meeting arranged by Stephen Cohen, head of the Asia Programme at Brookings, was attended by a number of experts, including Michael Krepon. HE asked Mohan what the Indo-US nuclear cooperation deal had for the US.
Cohen said both the left and the right in America would be opposed to the deal.
Krepon said the Indo-US ties would weaken the Nuclear Suppliers Group and acquisition of nuclear materials would be easier for Pakistan. The bad news for Pakistan is that one area where it competes with India is nuclear and the expansive relationship envisaged by the agreement between India and the US will put India ahead. He was critical of the agreement as it would leave India to decide what is military and what is civilian in its nuclear programme. He also said that in the past India has been secretive about its nuclear programme, so the question arises: why should America trust India now?
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