Indian machinations

INDIA continues to meddle in Pakistan’s internal matters ad nauseum, especially as Pakistan gets further embroiled in internal terrorism and military operations in FATA. First we saw the Indian leadership jumping in to exploit the terrorism issue, in which it has had a major hand, especially in Balochistan, and declare grandly that it was prepared to take on the Taliban. Now we have seen India express concerns over our nuclear programme’s safety. This is truly amusing because so far the record relating to nuclear safety has been fairly abysmal on the Indian side. For instance, according to an Indian parliamentary report, 147 mishaps or safety-related unusual occurrences were reported between 1995-1998 in Indian atomic energy plants. Then there have been reports of uranium theft; and there has been a tussle for control of the programme itself and the missiles, between the scientists and the Establishment. Even on proliferation, concern exists in Pakistan over the Indo-Israeli nuclear cooperation as well as the illicit work of Indians in the US. In March 2007, two Indian nationals, Sudarshan and Mythili Gopal, were arrested in the US for illegally transferring latest computer technology meant for missile guidance system to Indian government R&D institutes: Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre; Bharat Dynamics Ltd.; and Aeronautical Development Establishment. Most recently, there was the strange case of the Indian nuclear scientist, working on the weapons programme, who disappeared and was later found dead. Finally, given how Indian extremists through the BJP gain access to government, there is always the worry that extremists may have their trigger on the nuclear button in India.