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The Dartmouth
March 29, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Some fear tests will lead to war

Pervez Hoodbhoy, a Pakistani nuclear physicist, and Itty Abraham, author of a new book on India's nuclear program, said yesterday evening they fear conflict between India and Pakistan will result in nuclear war.

Nuclear weapons may eventually kill "a billion and a half people," Hoodbhoy told an audience of about 150 students and faculty in 3 Rockefeller Center.

"To develop such nuclear weapons is obscene" when "four million people live below the poverty line" in India, he said.

Hoodbhoy called the hope that nuclear weapons can maintain peace "very optimistic."

Unlike the situation between the United States and the former Soviet Republic, two countries that did not share a common border, a nuclear missile launched by Pakistan or India "only has a two to five minute flying time" before impact, he said.

"This will necessitate hair-trigger responses" or a preemptive strike if hostility between the two countries escalates to war, Hoodbhoy continued.

"To be a big boy in the world, you need nuclear weapons," Houdbhoy said, contrasting the nations' present situation to the past.

"You had two adversaries with pistols in their pockets. Now, they're pointing at each other," Hoodbhoy said.

Hoodbhoy admitted Pakistan's nuclear weapons may protect the county, in economic turmoil, from Indian invasion.

"But the real threat to Pakistan does not come from India, but from within itself," he added.

Both speakers agreed that the European community cannot be passive any longer in preventing countries from nuclear armament.

"If the European community had reacted strongly enough [to the Indian tests two weeks ago], perhaps [the Pakistani tests] would not have occurred," Hoodbhoy said.

Hoodbhoy contended that nuclear powers will never fully disarm until "international public pressure occurs."

Abraham said other nations should enact economic sanctions aimed at "the right people."

Imprudent measures will only "hurt people on the bottom of the economic scale," Abraham said.

Abraham also discussed the history of India and Pakistan's relationship, explaining some Western misconceptions of these countries.

He stated that Westerners too often think the relationship between India and Pakistan "can be reduced to a story between Hindus and Muslims."

Abraham said the animosity between these two countries stems from territorial disputes, and the nations' governments propagate this tension by preventing an adequate exchange of information.

"This lack of information allows stereotypes to continue," he said. "Even [school] textbooks are intensely political" and teach future generations to hate.

Abraham also dismissed the notion that India's nuclear tests are a military response to China's tests, stating that the two countries have improved relations over the last few decades.

He explained the Indian nuclear program, headed by the Indian Atomic Energy Commission, was created because of "domestic urges."

Nuclear weapons "give India international political currency" and will help to achieve its goal of becoming a National Security Council member, Abraham said.

The panel discussion was sponsored by the McSpadden Fund, the International Office and the Dickey Center for International Understanding.