By TRISHANK KARTHIK & RYAN LIM
"The world gets shocked when two traditional archrivals find the refreshed need for speed in a new race..."
In May 1998, the whole world gets astounded. Two archenemies have just begun a new race. Welcome to the race for the development of nuclear weapons between India and Pakistan.
Let's take a few steps back in time to understand how and when this race actually began.
India’s test explosion of an atomic weapon in 1974 shocked the world. Indian scientists and military officers were nevertheless proud of themselves. This however added fuel to the fire of the nuclear ambitions of neighboring Pakistan, India’s archrival which has fought three bitter wars with India since 1947. Their powerful dispute over Kashmir makes their border one of the most tense in the world. The introduction nuclear elements pleased only a few outside New Delhi.
After the 1974 test, India claimed to have halted its development of nuclear weaponry and insisted that the research is for peaceful aims only. But, India refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty for a long time. The signing of the treaty will mean that India grants international inspectors permission to access its nuclear facilities. It's refusal aroused many frowning faces around the world.
The test blasts of three weapons on May 11, 1998 stunned the world once again, especially Pakistan. The nationalist BJP government which took power in early 1998 has been keeping on track about its nuclear ambitions. However, few had expected that nuclear testing would follow so quickly.
India has become the sixth overt nuclear power, joining the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France. The tests in May 1998 were followed by a pledge to consider signing the non-proliferation treaty.
India’s possession of nuclear weapons eventually persuaded Pakistan to risk international isolation in pursuit of nuclear parity. In spite of given warnings of severe sanctions, Pakistan exploded five nuclear devices May 28.
Pakistan’s long rivalry with India caused three bloody wars between independence in 1947 and the founding of Bangladesh in 1971. It also led Pakistan to risk international isolation by contesting against India nuclear tests for nuclear test in May 1998.
India controls much of Pakistan’s politics. Pakistan has adjusted itself with the United States, mostly as a counter to the close bonds India developed with the Soviet Union. Pakistan also has found a listening ear in China, which has also fought a battle with India.
Listen to what Pakistan's Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub had to say about Indian Nuclear Tests: "What India has done is short of a declaration of war - the provocation has been that extreme. Indian actions which pose an immediate and great threat to
Pakistan will not go unanswered."
The test explosion of an Indian atomic weapon in 1974 made Pakistan to move even closer to its two allies. Secret efforts to develop nuclear weapons improved the United States-Pakistani relationship in the late 1980s. During the 1980s, Washington funded money for Pakistan in return for help in helping to coordinate the Afghan opposition fighting the Soviet Army in neighboring Afghanistan. After that war, Congress passed a strict anti-proliferation measure that followed on to a complete cut of U.S. aid to Pakistan because of the country’s chase for illegal nuclear technology.
Illegally obtained technology from West Germany, Britain and the United States played an important part in Pakistan’s ultimately successful chase for nuclear status. However, the greatest helping hand came from China itself.
As late as 1995, three years after China signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty U.S. intelligence sources said they believed Pakistan had obtained nuclear weapons components from Beijing. The issue continues to loosen relations between the United States and Pakistan, which has refused to join the NPT until India does it first.
Despite continued Western efforts to punish Pakistan, for all kinds aims and purposes, Pakistan’s May 1998 tests and the following declaration that it will put warheads on its medium-range missiles makes it a nuclear weapons qualified state.
On May 29, 1998 The United States declared that it believed Pakistan’s nuclear tests expressed flaws in their work and set off a political outburst inside Pakistan’s government. U.S. officials said that the tests conducted by both India and Pakistan had revealed much information about both nation’s nuclear potential.
Experts in U.S. mentioned that Pakistan has better missiles and India has better bombs. However, accordong to the experts, they lack good intelligence about each other. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., said that increased the likelihood of unneccessary misunderstandings and the possibility of triggering an accidental war.
"I’d be prepared to give them our nightly photographs of their test sites and their troop deployments," he said. "Open up the borders, give notice of military maneuvers, make sure the hotline between India and Pakistan is working. Those steps have to be taken."
Coprighted materials are referred to in the Copyrights section.
Produced by the ThinkQuest Team 18220: Gerald Tan, Ryan Lim and Trishank Karthik
|
