BJP's Bomb

[Patrick Bond]

Or Rakesh, as the Indian anti-nuke movement posited last night, maybe 
it's a sign not of having already consolided its rule, but of the 
fragility of rule. A feel-good populist measure to keep intact a very 
shaky coalition government?


> Date:          Tue, 12 May 1998 15:41:50 -0400 (EDT)
> From:          Rakesh Bhandari <bhandari at phoenix.Princeton.EDU>
> To:            lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> Subject:       BJP's Bomb
> Reply-to:      lbo-talk at lists.panix.com


> After decades of imports from the Soviet Union, India has developed an
> indigeneous arms capacity; Pakistan probably imports from China. I think I
> was wrong to suggest that US arms exporters are a major presence but after
> the Gulf War there has been an obvious improvement in US military
> relations with India. It seems to me that either India will try now to do
> what Reagan did to the Soviet Union (annihalte Pakistan through an
> escalation in the arms race; the percentage of GDP devoted by Pakistan to
> defense must already be one of the highest in the world--30%?) or India is
> using these tests to win certain concessions before signing the Test Ban
> Treaty. Needless to say, the BJP seems to have consolidated its rule.
> Best,
> Rakesh
> 
> 
>