Friday, June 12, 1998
Let the explosions herald elimination
American arsenal consists of 13 million pounds of nerve gas. Indeed, nerve gas was used by the United States Special Forces in a covert operation in Laos in 1970, aimed at a village believed to be habouring American soldiers who had defected. Nerve gas being used to kill Americans? The story has the potential of escalating.
The voice of India
Ever since Pokharan-II, whatever gains India has made in strategic terms seems to have been consistently undermined by the polyphony -- indeed, the cacophony -- of voices seeking to advance India's point of view in the international sphere. But it would be unfair to fault the government on its failure to speak in a single, clear, definitive voice on the nuclear issue.
A fine imbalance
The government is improvising a nuclear policy; it did not have one before Pokharan-II and it does not have one yet. That is evident from the thrashing about for a justification for the tests and the slew of declarations and explanations in answer to domestic and foreign critics. In the first few days after the BJP burst out of the shakha and straight into nuclear deterrence theory, there was much mimickry of the language of nuclear pundits -- ``the geostrategic situation has changed'' etc.
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