Nuclear-tipped missiles don't give security
Nuclear-tipped missiles don't give security, says Praful Bidwai
Such is the strength of chauvinist hyper-nationalism in India and Pakistan that the launch of the Agni-V, officially called an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, followed by the Hatf-IV-Shaheen-1A launch in Pakistan, was greeted with machismo, raucous celebration and sabre-rattling.
Most Indian political parties lavished praise on Defence Research and Development Organisation personnel for their "scientific achievement", without pausing to ask how replicating a 1950s-vintage technology constitutes something original, and why such 'achievements' are typically confined to mass-destruction weapons alone.
Not a single party criticised the hysterical triumphalism evident in much of the media, which described the launch as a 'giant leap' for indigenous technology and a 'game-changer'. None warned against the dangers of a missile and nuclear arms race which can badly destabilise this region. Even the hostile reaction from The Global Times in China didn't generate a more sober response other than that India shouldn't treat the Agni-V as anything but a 'deterrent'.
The state-run Chinese paper scathingly said India was being swept by a 'missile delusion', but stands 'no chance in an overall arms race with China' and would 'gain nothing by stirring further hostility'.
Even if India has missiles that could reach most parts of China, 'that does not mean it will gain anything from being arrogant during disputes with China. India should be clear that China's nuclear power is stronger and more reliable... India should also not overstate the value of its Western allies and the profits it could gain from participating in a containment of China'.
Whatever the merits of this view, it's clear that not just Pakistan, but China too, views India's ballistic missile programme as a strategic threat, and will react to it. After all, the Agni-V is designed to reach Beijing, Shanghai and cities in eastern China. China's retaliatory response will extract a price. Amidst the euphoria, nobody talks about this.
http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-why-the-euphoria-over...
There are so many things which the Indian think tanks considered before launching Agni IV.
India is suspicious about Chinese cooperation with Pakistan’s nuclear program, and China has taken steps—such as refusing to grant visas to Indian citizens from areas where the Sino–Indian border is under dispute—that have raised tensions in recent years.
The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan is also to be considered with great importance.
so far nuclear weapons has been a huge deterent force. they made wars feel "cold". so i disagree. from moscow to washington via europe, never in history has peace lasted more than 65 years. yougoslavia's civil war apart.
atomic bombs in August 1945 (over Hiroshima and Nagasaki) ultimately saved more lives than they took upon detonation, considering the projected losses in Allied and Axis lives from continued combat.
So Yes nukes Save Lives!
Challenge the Chinese to a game of cricket and the Indians will probably win that batter. (Proviso, all games are played in India)
Thats another way of looking at things LoL
OK.
Nuclear-tipped missiles give security that - if used - for a long, long time most of the Earth will be uninhabitable!