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Drumbeat: Ad Buzzaar
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Monday, May 18, 1998
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Don't reduce Pokharan to an Ayodhya
From temple to technology, the Sangh Parivar has taken a significant leap. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has congratulated Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for projecting the five nuclear tests in Pokharan as a display of Hindu might. This is what the West -- and Pakistan -- want to see and hear: that the tests have little to do with the national interest.
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Aksai Chin for starters
The defence minister in his inimitable style has again brought the Sino-Indian equation into focus. There are two aspects to our relationship with China. One relates to the border question, the other to our relationship as the world's two largest nations and oldest civilizations, bound to be competitors. The border has settled into a stable status quo.
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Angels fear to tread
The government would be well advised to nip in the bud talk of an immediate mid-term poll. The temptation for, and indeed the pressure on, the BJP to go for an immediate election is strong. If anything comes close to promising the party an outright majority in Parliament, it is the resounding approval within the country that has greeted the nuclear tests.
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Defence, not offence
Strobe Talbott's advice, thankfully, seems to have carried more weight with the Pakistani establishment than the deadline set by the New York Times. Now that a retaliatory test is no longer on its immediate agenda, it might want to step back from the issue and wonder if a show of nuclear strength is worth the bother.
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