"We do not want to cover our action with a veil of needless ambiguity. India is now a nuclear weapons state. We have the capacity for a big bomb now, for which a necessary command-and-control system is also in place. Ours will never be weapons of aggression."
This statement made by Vajpayee was carefully articulated by Mr. Vajpayee himself. For Vajpayee there needs no speech maker. He is the artful speech breaker of his enemies. This declaration seems very straightforward. Everyone, except a diplomat will agree with this. Vajpayee hit two targets with one arrow i.e this statement. On one hand, he warned the whole world that India is no longer a third world country which can be subjected to any pressure. He made this point because Clinton administration was enraged with Nuclear tests and so were Japan and other countries and put tremendous pressure not to do so all the time after 1974. He wanted to express the fact that India is now self confident in developing nuclear weapons. They had the right machinery and intelligence. On the other hand, to ensure that the world understands that India's purpose of testing nuclear weapon was only for its security and not to attack anyone, he made the last part -"Ours will never be weapons of aggression".
This art of speaking has been found only in 3 people post Independent India - Sardar Patel, Indira Gandhi and Mr. Vajpayee himself.
Although this statement and announcement did not alleviate world leaders' worry and India could not escape sanctions, it made sure that the world doesn't conclude that India was on a nuclear war with Pakistan. This is like "Dushman kamzor samhaj kar aakraman na kare aur yeh bhi samjhe ki hum shanti chahte hain". He was in one way cautioning China not to think it was easy to take over India (post 1962 China has been treating India very lightly in nuclear strength).
I fail to find any other short and simple speech as the above one enough to bring the world to jitters and yet keep everyone calm. When specifically asked about sanctions from the US, he made another matchless speech:
''India has the sanction of her own past glory and future vision to become strong. Some of the countries which have talked of sanctions, or have otherwise criticized our action, have themselves not only conducted far more nuclear tests than we have done, but they have also built huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons and delivery systems. Many of them are enjoying the shade provided by somebody else's nuclear umbrella.''
"I would like to assure the people of the world, especially in our part of the world, that there is no cause for worry at all, much less any alarm, on account of India's action. All that India has done is conduct five nuclear tests. You place this fact in the context of the hundreds of nuclear tests that have been carried out by several countries so far, and it becomes obvious that India's action does not in the least warrant consideration of worst-case scenarios.''
''India has never considered military might as the ultimate measure of national strength. The tests are a necessary component of overall national strength. I would, therefore, say that the greatest meaning of the tests is they have given India shakti, they have given India strength, they have given India self-confidence.''
''The cause of India going nuclear is a stark regional and global reality. The world knows the truth about the progress -- or rather, the lack of it -- made by the nuclear powers in the direction of nuclear disarmament. The world community should appreciate the fact that India, the second most-populous country on earth, waited for five decades before taking this step.''
1 comment:
Very well put
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