Guest guest Posted April 13, 2000 Report Share Posted April 13, 2000 >OFBJP <OFBJP >OFBJP Editor <Editor >An American Umbrella for India >Thu, 13 Apr 2000 17:14:11 -0400 (EDT) > >---- >Overseas Friends of the BJP (USA) ........... Voice: (718) 271-0453 >54-15, 108th St. ............................ Fax: (718) 271-1906 >Corona, NY 11368............................ WWW:http://www.ofbjp.org > BJP's Website: http://www.bjp.org > >Title: An American Umbrella for India >Author: Brahma Chellaney >Publication: International Herald Tribune >Paris, Monday, April 10, 2000 > >Indraprasth - The United States is likely to deploy both >a national missile defense as a shield against >intercontinental ballistic missiles and a theater missile >defense in East Asia to protect the region against >shorter-range missiles. It will thus have the potential >to unleash a first strike and protect itself from >retaliation, upsetting the balance of nuclear deterrence. >U.S. missile defenses will affect India's security. > >Few countries confront various missile threats, as India >does. The biggest expansion of missile capabilities >anywhere is being carried out by India's giant neighbor >China. It is building a new generation of multiple- >warhead missiles that can be fired quickly. These are >precisely the kind of destabilizing systems that the >START-2 treaty seeks to eliminate. > >As the chairman of the International Relations Committee >of the U.S. House of Representatives, Benjamin Gilman, >has pointed out, China, as part of its strategic >encirclement of India, has deployed a large number of >short-range missiles and 25 intermediate-range missiles >with nuclear warheads in Tibet. > >So far India has looked at only one way to deter nuclear >missile terror and blackmail - by developing a reliable >missile-deterrent capability to pay back an aggressor in >kind. But even before India has succeeded in building a >credible missile-deterrent force, it faces new issues >relating to U.S. missile defenses. > >Theater and national missile defense will undercut >China's deterrent posture. Beijing has only two dozen >long-range missiles that can reach the United States. The >rest of its 500-weapon nuclear arsenal consists of >shorter-range systems of consequence only to neighbors >like India. > >Any plan that can contain China's growing power should >benefit Indian interests. The problem is that Beijing >will use theater and national missile defense to justify >a rapid nuclear and missile buildup. > >India's modest deterrent capabilities will be gravely >undermined as China enlarges and modernizes its nuclear >and missile armories. The Chinese-Indian asymmetry will >increase to the extent that New Delhi will be have to >respond by diverting more of its scarce resources to new >nuclear and missile development projects. An Indian >program to build intercontinental ballistic missiles will >become inevitable. > >Once China begins to build more sophisticated missiles >armed with decoys and other penetration aids, it will >have commercial reasons to recover some of the costs by >transferring to Pakistan its older nuclear and missile >technologies. Beijing has repeatedly broken its >assurances to halt clandestine strategic transfers to >Islamabad. > >But the potential benefits of national missile defense >could help strengthen and expand U.S.-led security >arrangements. If the system is seen to work, Washington >could extend a ''missile umbrella'' to its allies, just >as it now holds out a nuclear umbrella. > >India, as a potential strategic partner of the United >States, could take advantage of such benefits to cut the >costs of deterring Chinese missile might. When nations >like Japan, Taiwan and Israel have expressed interest in >defenses against a potential missile attack, India has >all the reason to seek cooperation in that field with >Washington. > >In a world of rapid change, it is now conceivable to >think of a future India with its own nuclear force but >under a U.S. strategic defense umbrella. > >The writer, a professor at the Center for Policy Research >in New Delhi, contributed this comment to the >International Herald Tribune. > ____ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.