Your edit, Clouds of Hypocrisy, (June 26) is an exercise in sophistry when you bracket India with Pakistan. India was forced to become a nuclear-state after China became one in 1964 and Pakistan started its clandestine nuclear club. India exploded a nuclear devise in 1974 for 'peaceful' purpose and later in 1998 to warn our two neighbours that India can defend itself. And one of the neighbour invaded India to "teach' a lesson for giving shelter to Dalai Lama, and the other neighbour threatened to eat grass but would have an atom bomb to confront India after its genocide in the East Pakistan which then became Bangladesh in 1971. One neighbour wants to encircle India with a string of military bases and the other wants to wage 'a thousand-year' war and with 'thousand cuts'.Can any country live in peace in this 'peaceful' neighbourhood ?
As far as the big five nuclear powers are concerned, less said the better. They have not taken measures to reduce the risk of nuclear war by announcing a time-table for complete and verifiable nuclear disarmament though USA and Russia have agreed to reduce their stockpile to a few thousands. All the five want to continue with their nuclear hegemony.
Additionally, USA had looked the other way when A.Q.Khan stole the nuclear technology from the Netherlands and started his factory with equipments from the European countries. We have the testimony of the former Prime Minister of the Netherlands to confirm this. Your own report ( The Power of Nightmares) in the issue states, " By any measure, Pakistan is a shocker. Its proliferation record would make the serial nuclear mischief-makers North Korea blush." Your report adds little later, " China has given Pakistan lots of nuclear and missile help in the past. It even passed it a tested design of one of its own missile-mountable warheads. This is one of the most damaging proliferation acts of the nuclear age, since the same design was later passed by Pakistan to Libya and possibly Iran and others."
Who are the nuclear saints and who are the nuclear sinners ? Let no sinner cast the first stone.
( A letter sent to Economist,London on its edit, Clouds of Hypocrisy, and a report, The power of nightmares, dated June 26,2010.)
June 28,2010.
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