The Voice
of the Free Indian
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India's nuclear muscle : - BBC
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BBC:- Saturday, 11 January, 2003, 12:40 GMT
India's nuclear muscle
By Humphrey Hawksley
In Trombay, India
Through the erratic traffic of Bombay, also known as Mumbai,
over bridges and under railway lines, along curving sea-front
boulevards, flashing posters, crawling beggars and afternoon worshippers,
we finally edged our way into the nearby town of Trombay and a
checkpoint.
"Is this Barc?" I shouted from the window, and a woman
selling vegetables, pointed lazily at the compound ahead.
The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre near Mumbai
Barc, where India's grade A scientists are creating a nuclear
arsenal
As our van pulled up, Dr A P Jayaranam, publicity director for
the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, stepped out of a guard house
with a beaming smile.
"You are Mr Hawksley, and you found us," he said -
neither a statement nor a question - tucking his crumpled white
shirt into his trousers.
Security guards emptied our car of equipment, checking every
piece together with our passports and visas.
Underground labs
Dr Jayaranam was embarrassed. "I am so sorry for all this,"
he said. But you know we are nuclear weapons facility and many
nasty people want to get in here."
Lined up on the other side of the checkpoint were five grey buses,
the sun reflected off the grubby windows and faces leaning tiredly
against the glass.
The buildings were dowdy Soviet-style from the 50s and 60s -
the era when India's weapons research bega
Anywhere else they could have been prison inmates or workers
from a car factory. But these were India's grade A scientists
on a shift change - the men and women who are creating India's
nuclear arsenal.
India is an unfathomable country. A solid democracy which America
regarded as a Cold War enemy. A booming economy which has delivered
less wealth to its people over the past 40 years than Nigeria.
And, because of its nuclear bomb, it's now a live-wire embryonic
super-power.
I say live-wire, because any tension between India and Pakistan
automatically moves onto talk of nuclear war, and I had come to
see exactly how it would work.
Barc is a vast complex. Some five miles ahead of us, further
than we were allowed to go, was the sea. We were flanked by mountains,
underneath which laboratories had been hewn, where 5,000 scientists
and 10,000 technicians work.
'Prepared'
Hidden among the lush tropical greenery outside were satellite
dishes and radar - presumably to detect an enemy attack.
The buildings were dowdy Soviet-style from the 50s and 60s -
the era when India's weapons research began. Of all its fluctuating
policies, the nuclear programme has remained constant.
Either the navy or the army or the air force. We are always prepared
to meet any needs for the country
B Bhattacharjee, Barc
Like a proud real-estate agent, Dr Jayaranam showed off the exteriors
of two nuclear reactors, one built with British help, the other
with Canadian - and both - experts believe - used to extract weapons-grade
material for bomb making. Outside was a walkway and a fountain.
That was all we were allowed to see.
Inside, he introduced us to the director, B Bhattacharjee, skilled
in gas centrifuge technology for uranium enrichment.
How does it work, I asked, if say the navy wants a nuclear warhead
for its new submarine.
Dr Bhattacharjee leaned forward enthusiastically. "If we
are asked at any time 'can you help us?' our answer should be
'yes'. That's from any sector - either the navy or the army or
the air force. We are always prepared to meet any needs for the
country."
Assembly
"And the weapons," I added with hesitation. "They
are here, now."
"Yes. The nuclear weapons are designed here, manufactured
here and we keep them here."
In fact, that's just a third of a complete nuclear weapon.
In Delhi, a former defence planner explained that the part known
as the pit - the nuclear element - was made at Barc.
We think it is in America's interests for India to become a great
global power
Robert Blackwill, US ambassador
"The pit goes into the warhead," he said. "And
the warhead is kept in another place. And the delivery system
- that is an aircraft, a missile of a submarine - is in another
place again. It would take something from six to eight hours -
maximum 12 hours to get the complete weapon assembled and ready
to launch. Then it would take about 11 minutes to impact on Pakistan."
So, India has a no-first-use policy, which Pakistan does not.
In other words, India is prepared to absorb one strike - sacrifice
at least one city. Then, no more than 12 hours later, after it's
put its weapons together, it would hit back with everything it's
got.
My last stop was to drop by and see the American ambassador,
Robert Blackwill, a George W Bush confidant and Harvard academic.
There was a marked change of tone from a few years ago. "We
think it is in America's interests for India to become a great
global power," he said. "This is a great democracy.
It has our values. Our long-term relationship with India is very
stabilising for Asia."
What more need be said?
The US has decided it likes India with nuclear muscle.
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