The ghost of possible nuclear holocaust in South Asia simply refuses to die down. While in the last few years the chances of a nuclear catastrophe have come down considerably, time and again some or the other incidence has kept the region in perennial tenterhooks. The recent revelation that Pakistan is building a third nuclear reactor comes as a shocker and adds to the existing paranoia. Well if Pakistan puts forward the contention that it is building this nuclear reactor to mitigate the problem of power supply and to make sure that it gets an uninterrupted supply of nuclear power, even the most diehard proponent of the cause of Pakistan would find it difficult to accept. But then history is testimony to the fact that Pakistan would essentially put forward this contention only as it has always done to bring some sort of parity with India. Though it cannot be completely ruled out that Pakistan is doing this to sort of avenge the Indo-US nuclear deal as it had expected the US to give a s...
Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri
(An IIPM Think Tank Blog)