Indian Global Goals-IV *(Dr.Abdul Ruff Colachal)

[abdulruff]

Indian Global Goals -IV

Peace and Nuclear terrorism

Indo-US nuclearism is only an open deal on nuclear collaboration culminating the long time secret dealings between them, but USA getting the Indian head within its beaks. Recent studies have unearthed some significant Indian features about its nuclear double-speak and false image building efforts internationally. Under Indo-US nuclearism deal, India has committed to certain principles. In the past, the Indian government had made similar commitments with the US and had provided written assurances to the US that it will not obtain or use licensable items in contravention of the US export control laws and regulations. US sources have evid3ence that New Delhi has conducted black market nuclear trading and has exercised poor control over key technology designs. Before 2003, India had been procuring large quantities of TBP from China. However, after China enacted new end-user requirements, India’s subsequent attempts to procure TBP from China remained unsuccessful. Subsequently, India utilized an array of Indian trading companies to procure TBP secretly from suppliers in Germany and Russia. In fact India got the Soviet supply of fuels almost free of cost.
Indian Nuclear march began even before India got freedom form the UK and well a year before the first nuclear explosion by United States in 1945. Dr. Homi Bhabha, the founder father of Indian nuclear program submitted a proposal to Tata Trust for establishment of a nuclear institute in March 1944 as a result the ‘Tata Institute of Fundamental Research’ (TIFR), was founded on December 19, 1945 in Bombay , with Bhabha as its first Director. In spite of being a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Indian Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) established the Atomic Energy Establishment Trombay (AEET) in January 1954, formally inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister on 20 January 1957 (later renamed as Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) on January 12, 1967). Consequently, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) was established with Bhabha as its secretary in August 1954. It was responsible to Indian Prime Minister and remained so even today.

As anon-aligned leader, India sought assistance form the capitalist world as well. After a year in 1955, India in collaboration with United Kingdom started constructing its first nuclear reactor –‘1MW Apsara research reactor’. In the same year Canada provided India with 40 MW, Canada-India Reactor and later in 1956, under the ‘Atoms for Peace’ program, USA agreed to provide 21 tons of heavy water for this reactor thus renaming it, Canada-India Reactor US, later truncated as CIRUS or Cirus. In the absence of any international policy on transfer of technology and being discreet and futuristic in getting the facility without any string form US, India set up indigenous program to manufacture natural uranium fuel for Cirus with its own control over the production of plutonium. The reactor was designed to produce weapon-grade plutonium enough for preparation of nuclear bombs and the same reactor provided requisite plutonium for 1974 nuclear test by India. As a nuclear base, Cirus further provided a prototype design for another powerful research reactor, Dhruva Plutonium Production, currently producing almost half of the weapon grade plutonium used by India for preparation of nuclear weapons.

Taking this sale of heavy water / technology by US as precedence, in the subsequent years, France assisted Israel in establishing its plutonium based nuclear reactor. During the developmental stages of Indian nuclear program, the Apsara, fuelled by enriched uranium from the United Kingdom, attained criticality on 4 August 1957, thus becoming the first operating reactor in the entire Asia (with exception of former Soviet Union) India has placed maximum emphasis on the development of breeder reactor fuel cycles in its nuclear program. In a bid of matching the Cirus, Indian PM allowed the Phoenix to enhance the plants capacity to house and enrich twenty tones of fuel per year.


India supplied 60 tons of Thionyl Chloride, a chemical being used in the preparation of mustard gas to Iran in 1989. India provided needed training to the Iranian nuclear scientists in early 1990s. It also signed an agreement with Iran for providing it with 10- megawatt nuclear research reactor, but had to cancel it for the sake of its long term gains from United States. However in December 2003, then Indian Foreign Minister Jessant Singh categorically said that, “India has and would continue to help Iran in its controversial bid to generate nuclear energy.” Two well-known Indian nuclear scientists from the highly placed Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) faced US sanctions on the charges of transferring nuclear related material to Iran in 2004. Corollary to that, in December 2005, United States put sanctions on “Sabero Organic Chemicals Gujarat Ltd. and Sandhya Organic Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. for transfers of chemical-related items to Iran”. Again in July 2006, two more chemical manufacturers of India (Balaji Amines and Prachi Poly Products) had to face the sanctions over the transfer of proscribed material to Iran. In April 2008, during his non-proliferation trip report to India, Bruce O Riedel, an analyst of Brookings Institute and advisor designate to Barack Obama on Middle East and South Asian affairs critically noted the growing Indo-Iran relations in all fields.

Apart from Iran, India has surreptitiously supplied nuclear and biological related material to many other countries in reciprocation of its economic gains. Even under the charges of transfer of chemical and biological weapons related material to Iraq, US imposed non-proliferation sanctions on a number of Indian companies from 1998 to 2003. In practical sense the US sanctions on Indian companies and scientists were no more than an emblematic treatment.

In fact India is cooperating with Iran for its long terms economic paybacks within Iran and through it from Central Asian Republics (CAR). In promotion of its long term strategic gains, India is otherwise helping Iran in the construction of its strategically positioned sea port at Chabahar. This port would provide India with a linkage with CARs, which it otherwise could not approach through Pakistan because of tense relations.

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DR.ABDUL RUFF Colachal
Columnist & Independent Researcher in World Affairs, The only Indian to have gone through entire India
South Asia.