Yale Bulletin and Calendar

May 19, 2000

Volume 28, Number 32

Panelists decry nuclear
proliferation in India, Pakistan

While the governments of India and Pakistan may have hoped that possession of nuclear weapons would enhance their standing in the international arena, the South Asian nations instead have become pariahs in their own region and on the world stage, three panelists said during a discussion at Yale on May 5.

The panelists -- Praful Bidwai, Achin Vanaik and Lawrence Lifshultz -- discussed the topic "South Asia on a Short Fuse: Nuclear Politics in the Subcontinent." The event was presented by the South Asian Graduate and Professional Association (SAGA) and cosponsored by the Office of the Secretary, the Office of International Students and Scholars, and the McDougal Center.

Bidwai, Vanaik and Lifshultz examined the causes and consequences of the Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests and provided a framework for understanding the global context in which testing has occurred.

The panelists agreed that in India, nuclear proliferation has been used by the government as a "shortcut" to building up national pride and diverting attention from the "real" problems of poverty and illiteracy, among others, rather than for the oft-cited reason that China is a regional security threat.

Pakistan, in response, has attempted to build up its own nuclear arsenal because of its perception that India is a security threat, the panelists said.

The nuclear bomb has been used as a political tool in both countries to garner support for the regimes in power, the panelists maintained. Yet, the possession of nuclear power has resulted in a regression to pre-partition communalism and prejudices, said the panelists.

Bidwai and Vanaik have been senior editors at The Times of India and wrote a column called "Nuclear Notebook" for the Economic and Political Weekly, a prestigious Bombay journal. They are leading figures in the Movement in India for Nuclear Disarmament (MIND). Lifshultz, who is currently a research associate at the Yale Center for International and Area Studies, has written extensively on Asian and European affairs and is at work on a new book titled "Averting Armageddon: Nuclear War in South Asia -- American Policy, Nuclear Weapons and The Politics of Nonproliferation."

In addition to evaluating the causes of nuclear proliferation in South Asia, Bidwai, Vanaik and Lifshultz also mapped out a new approach to nuclear abolition and called upon both Western nuclear powers and South Asia's new nuclear states to begin serious efforts towards full and complete nuclear disarmament.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

$5 million to fund student exchanges

Shiller predicts 'uneven course down' for the stock market

Janeway, Srinivasan are named as new members of the NAS

Seven from Yale are among the new fellows of the AAAS

Summertime at Yale

Chemistry lecturer honored with national award

Yale program for children lauded at dedication

Commencement Information

Show celebrates adventurous 'Art of Bloomsbury'

'Dance of the Dragon' traces use of mythical motifs in Chinese art

Study shows arthritis drug aids premature babies' brains

Roundtable discussion inaugurates Corporate Law Center

Newly unveiled portrait features first Yale graduate from China

Leffell's 'Total Skin' offers insights into our outer layer

Nurse practitioners group cites Grey and Safriet for their work

YSN and Connecticut Public Radio creating show on care of ill, elderly

'What is a Pathologist?': Young students have winning answers

Historian wins award for his creative use of technology

Multimedia projects receive special grants from the DMCA

Marrakech honors two at Yale for their volunteer contributions

Panelists decry nuclear proliferation in India, Pakistan

Students find 'creative outlet' in Battin' & Chattin'

Search committee formed for School of Drama Dean

In the News