India's bomb
Predictable outrage greeted the news of India's experimental explosion of her first nuclear bomb. Predictably, too, the Indian government issued a sanctimoniously self-justifying statement claiming that the experiment was undertaken entirely for peaceful purposes. Of course it was not, and India's action in joining the nuclear club was, self-evidently, undertaken in her political and military national interest. As such it was entirely understandable and defensible. India did not even break a treaty or agreement for, though she was a signatory to the nuclear test-ban treaty—her explosion of a device underground did not violate that treaty — she never adhered to the non-proliferation clauses. The test explosion was, justifiable because, since her victory over Pakistan and creation of Bangladesh, India must endure the responsibilities of a major power in the Central Asian region. As such there is always the danger of a confrontation with China in which — since Indians still have bitter memories of the failure of their so-called friends among the major powers to come to their aid the last time Chinese troops crossed the North Western borders — a nuclear weapon could be a powerful argument for peace. In many other respects — the beginning of the end of the socialisation of the Indian economy and the olive branch offered to Iran are two very good examples — Mrs Gandhi has, in recent months, demonstrated further capacity to grow and mature as a major stateswoman. It seems clear that the trivial era of her father and the Bandung policies is over, and that India is coming out into the light of the real world.
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