Nuclear Madness in South Asia by Musa Khan Jalalzai

Author:Musa Khan Jalalzai [Jalalzai, Musa Khan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nuclear Warfare, Military, Political Science, History, Geopolitics, General
ISBN: 9789389620788
Google: UdoDEAAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 54689110
Publisher: VIJ BOOKS INDIA
Published: 2020-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

The Twenty Years’ Crisis of Nuclear South Asia, 1998–2018: A Workshop Report

Zia Mian a, A. H. Nayyara and M. V. Ramana b

Abstract

In May 2018, the Liu Institute for Global Issues, part of the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia, together with Princeton University’s Program on Science and Global Security ran a workshop on the twenty years since the May 1998 nuclear weapons tests by India and Pakistan. The workshop addressed three broad themes central to understanding nuclear dangers in South Asia: how to understand South Asian nuclear dynamics since 1998, the present and near future of nuclear South Asia, and finally the scope for civil society-led change in nuclear South Asia.

Keywords: India; Pakistan; nuclear weapons; nuclear crisis; deterrence; peace movement

Introduction

Twenty years ago, over a period of three weeks in May 1998, India and Pakistan carried out a series of nuclear weapon tests. There were tests on 11 May and 13 May 1998 by India, one of which was claimed to be a test of a two-stage thermonuclear weapon. India’s Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee of the Hindu nationalist party Bharatiya Janata Party, which had come to power only two months earlier, later said “These tests were essential for ensuring a credible nuclear deterrent for India’s national security in the foreseeable future.”1 Then on 28 May and 30 May 1998, Pakistan carried out its nuclear weapon tests. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of the conservative nationalist Pakistan Muslim League, who had taken office in 1997, said Pakistan “felt compelled to acquire a matching capability” and that the tests were meant to “establish nuclear deterrence” and “served the cause of peace and stability in our region.”2

On 6 June 1998, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1172, which condemned the tests and expressed deep concern at the risk of a nuclear arms race in South Asia. It called on Pakistan and India “immediately to stop their nuclear weapon development programmes, to refrain from weaponisation or from the deployment of nuclear weapons, to cease development of ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons and any further production of misssile material for nuclear weapons, to confirm their policies not to export equipment, materials or technology that could contribute to weapons of mass destruction or missiles capable of delivering them and to undertake appropriate commitments in that regard.” The Resolution also urged “India and Pakistan to exercise maximum restraint and to avoid threatening military movements, cross-border violations, or other provocations in order to prevent an aggravation of the situation.”3

The two countries announced a moratorium on further nuclear weapon testing. There were no subsequent commitments to further limit nuclear weapon programs. There initially was widespread public support for the nuclear tests in both countries, with most political parties and much of the media in India and Pakistan largely supportive of the tests. Over time, the early public displays of enthusiasm for nuclear weapons have subsided into lacklustre commemorations and sporadic media coverage of the anniversary of the nuclear weapon tests of 1998.

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