The Telegraph - London - 10/18/98
By Julian West in New Delhi
Indian and Pakistani Nuclear Tests - Centre for Non-Proliferation Studies
The Times of India
Pakistan Today
INDIA is to conduct its first simulated nuclear-war drill as part of major military manoeuvres near the Pakistan border next month.
The move follows atomic test blasts conducted by both the south Asian rival states earlier this year and has alarmed Western
observers and neighbouring countries.
According to Western intelligence reports, Indian troops will be drilled on how to deal with the fall-out from a nuclear strike. Soldiers
will receive training in matters such as dealing with the effects of electromagnetic radiation on radio and computer equipment, and
tackling water contamination and destruction of roads and communications links. Meanwhile, the Indian air force and navy, which
will conduct exercises in the Arabian Sea, will move on to a correspondingly higher state of alert.
The war games are India's first since both it and Pakistan carried out simultaneous manoeuvres in 1987. These earlier exercises
brought the two countries to the brink of war. In recent years, both sides have embarked on ambitious missile-testing programmes,
and recent tensions over the disputed state of Kashmir have renewed fears of war.
George Fernandes, India's defence minister, who described the forthcoming war games as "routine", has accused the West of
inflaming tensions by spreading alarm about a possible conflict. However, China, which shares a border with India and Pakistan,
expressed "concern" last week over India's manoeuvres and urged both countries to show restraint. New Delhi has already angered
Beijing by citing a possible threat from China as one of the reasons for conducting its nuclear test blasts - an allegation which the
Chinese have called "outrageous".
Pakistan, which said it had received notification from India of only a "routine exercise", expressed alarm over the scale and timing of
the manoeuvres - news of which came shortly before senior diplomats from both countries met in Islamabad last week.
The Pakistanis plan to go ahead with routine winter field-firing exercises, involving artillery and infantry forces, in various parts of the
country, including the southern Sindh desert, bordering India. But a much larger, joint army and air-force exercise, which had been
planned to be held simultaneously, has been cancelled because of lack of funds. The country, which has been badly hit by
international sanctions following the nuclear tests, is reported to have defaulted on its foreign debt, although this has not been
announced officially.
India's defence ministry, which has played down next month's war games, has not disclosed whether the army will be testing its
missiles, although exercises on this scale are usually carried out with missile launchers. Both India and Pakistan currently possess
short-range missiles capable of striking each other's targets.
Western intelligence reports have disclosed that several divisions of the Desert Strike corps, numbering well over 100,000 troops,
will be involved in the war games and will take part in nuclear drills. Military analysts are watching to see if India will use the
opportunity to test a command-and-control system, involving politicians. The army has recently completed a proposal for such a
system, but India, unlike most other countries, is unusual in that its military has been excluded from all strategic military
decision-making.
The normal links between the government and the military to determine who orders a nuclear strike, and how this is executed, have
not yet been established in India - a failing that worries Western military analysts.
One analyst said: "India is rapidly developing its nuclear-weapons programme, but it has absolutely no link between the army, the
politicians and the bureaucrats. In today's scenario, this presents a very worrying and dangerous situation."
|
