India’s nuclear safety record and ground realities
A missile attack on Poland recently yet no badly is sure and there is mystification about who fired the missile Ukrainian or Russian.
The missile killed two people near the Poland border.This incident engendered widespread ripples across the world.There is doubt about the inchoation of this missile.
Nevertheless, the Ukraine conflict has brought nuclear bombs back into the discussion. The world is verbalizing this threat because of the Ukraine war.
However, the world is fixating on the hazards of nuclear war because it was transpiring in Europe, and in South Asia, despite the lamentable reputation of India cognate to safety and security of nuclear weapons and material, the head of Atomic Energy Commission Rafael Mariano Grossi recently praised India as a platform for nuclear technologies, and he sees a bright future.
At the same time, he showed concerns about Ukraine but thoroughly forgot the Bharmos missile fired on Pakistan.
Moreover, he failed to point out India’s lack of implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and the IAEA convention.
The United Nations Security Council resolution 1540 and the IAEA Convention of Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) make it binding on the state to take rigorous measures to avert nuclear material from getting into the wrong hands.
Furthermore, in the Nuclear Security Index Ranking, India got 41 out of 100 and ranked 20 out of 22 countries; it also has a low score in the security of nuclear facilities.
How can the head of the IAEA call a country a future nuclear technology hub which cannot implement IAEA conventions and has such a low ranking in the Nuclear Security Index?
India’s records on the safety of radioactive material are abysmal, and India also fired a missile into Pakistan.
The debate is not about whether it was contingent or deliberate. Firing a nuclear-capable missile only shows that either India was complacent or incapable.
If it was accidental, then it shows Indian command and control system is so impotent, and the world should take steps to ameliorate the Indian nuclear weapons system.
It not only engendered the possibility of starting a war between countries but withal imperiled many passenger flights.
The second possibility is that it was deliberate and is a cause for concern. In the book, After the Bomb Reflections on India’s Nuclear Journey, Achin Vanaik argued that the Indian nuclear elite is composed of a strategic core of crucial decision makers, and the strategic community has the Sangh Ideologues.
However, these days the situation has deteriorated. Modi was leading the Indian regime and was an active member of Sangh.
Kira Huju wrote a research article in the International Affair Journal, which talked about the Saffornization of the Indian Foreign Ministry.
There is no reason to believe that Indian authority’s deals with missiles do not consist of these elements.
Therefore, the world is always in peril because of Modi and his accomplices who inspired the Ideology of Hindutva.
Thus, calling India a bright place for nuclear technology is predicated on sheer incognizance.
The head of IAEA would not be making such verbal expressions if Hitler or Mouslinni had control over the nuclear weapons and would be firing nuclear missiles in other European countries.
IAEA head would additionally be making this kind of statement about Russia if there was a pattern of Uranium smuggling in Russia as shown in India.
There is a history of Uranium smuggling in India.Even the Diplomat magazine called India a ‘radioactive bazaar. There are some recent examples of Uranium smuggling as well.
In February 2021, the Indian security forces held two people from Kolkata carrying radioactive material worth 570 million dollars.
These two people brought the radioactive material of 250 kg. In June 2021, 7 people were apprehended in Jharkhand carrying 6 kilograms of mineral uranium.
Pakistan authoritatively mandated an investigation of these is paramount. Although India did not sign the NPT treaty, the US gave it access to the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
Recently, India refused to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban treaty and showed intention to test different nuclear weapons.
The US did not react to the Indian aspiration to create a nuclear arms race. Furthermore, the world institution remained mute when it came to India.
To make the world a tranquil place, it is very paramount for the world to rise above self-interest and a western-centric mindset.
The Atlanticism mentality is becoming a grave threat to the world because the world cannot compete against the aggressor.
Life of Kashmiri and Pakistani people are equipollently consequential. Due to the west’s partial approach, most countries abstained from voting on the Ukraine issue because they knew that the west always cared about its problems.
Therefore, western bellwethers and institutions need to understand the concern of countries not in Europe.
India is incapable of implementing a stringent mechanism to safeguard radioactive materials.
Secondly, firing a nuclear-capable missile in Pakistan’s territory showed an Indian lack of capability or truculent design.
International Agencies should make India accountable for its incapability as well as for its truculent plans.
The world should additionally be vigilant on the Hitler-inspired ideology precipitating in the Indian army and the Indian Strategic community.
Therefore, a verbal expression such as those given by the IAEA head will further imperil the world’s placidity.
It will threaten strategic stability and imperil the utilization of nuclear technology to achieve the target of the Paris Climate Agreement because one unfortunate incident can transmute the world’s perception about the utilization of nuclear technology to meet climate goals.
—The write is a research officer at CISS, AJK
