Revisiting an Hurriedly delivered Talk in an International Seminar

Day before yesterday after attending the inaugural ceremony of one international seminar organized in our school I wrote this note. The theme was Rajiv Gandhi’s Disarmament Initiatives: Global and south Asian context. There were many celebrity figures on the stage, including former ambassador A. P. Venkateswaran, retired IFS. My role was just to deliver the felicitation address towards the end. Since, the inaugural ceremony nearly lasted for two hours, when my turn came I had to be brief, very very brief.

This brief note is just to share some Notes that I took from my academic dairy, which could not be delivered due to paucity of time. If only I had delivered in a relaxed way perhaps, the speech would have contained the following points which now I would like to recollect in tranquility from memory.

Ø At the very outset, I would like to confess that I am only a student of international finance and hence, I do not have any expertise to articulate on this subject of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. However, I would like to look through the issue from the commonsense view point which is of course the economic lens.

Ø Can we imagine a capitalist global economy today which will not undergo any major financial or currency crisis? One can say an affirmative ‘No’. All of us know that right from 1987 stock market crash through the recession of 1991, September 1992 British pound coup by George Soros, Mexican Peso collapse of 94-95, Asian financial earthquake of 97, its aftermath and spillover into Korea, brazil, Russia and finally to Argentina, the dot.com bubble of 2001and the more recent global financial crisis of 2008, made in U.S.A. –all these crisis have highlighted that a capitalist economy can survive only with a series of devastating financial earthquakes –the familiar Boom and Bust cycle. In the same way I can say that it will be very difficult to imagine a world today without nuclear weapons. Dreaming of that kind of world by whatever means, would be only a utopian goal.

Ø The end of Cold war and the emergence of unipolar world has not lessened the intensity for accumulation of nuclear weapons and also indulging in many military misadventures. For the U.S. the world is not enough, and China is all set for a hunt in Africa for acquiring command over resources.

Ø Countries like India had advocated a policy of non-alignment and nuclear disarmament for long. Like India of the distant past, the U.S. in close company with Russia, sitting on a mountain of nuclear weapons, desire to strive for a world without nuclear weapons and preach sermon to others through summit and other means. Indeed it is very strange but true that the nuclear super powers are talking about the need for a peaceful nuclear order for humanity. They are too eager to set Safeguards, Safety and Security (3 S) for nations becoming nuclear. The race continues because each wants to frighten others.


Ø Very recently, I read that Australia and Japan have taken some initiatives to take up the cause of total nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Everyone knows that Japan was a victim of nuclear holocaust during second world war and Australia which has more uranium resources wants to use nuclear power for peaceful purposes. These two countries can afford to speak and dream about nuclear weapon free world as they can always take shelter under U.S. nuclear umbrella.

Ø These two countries are extremely unhappy with North Korea and Iran which are in the process of equipping themselves with more nuclear weapons; what about Pakistan Which has become the breeding ground of terrorism.

Ø In one of the recent articles Mr. Graham Allisen of Harvard University has drawn attention to the fact that Pakistan increasing instability will pose a challenge not only to south Asia but also to the current, fragile, global nuclear order. The main concern is; “If Pakistan were to lose control of even one nuclear weapon that was ultimately used by terrorists, that event would change the world and alter the conception of viable nuclear order.”

Ø The issue of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament is not only tricky but also ticklish which cannot be resolved that easily but the most important thing today is how the much talked about three ‘S’- Safeguards, Safety and Security in the nuclear non-proliferation literature are going to be managed by the nuclear super powers and who has the critical capability to moderate the nations craving for acquiring control over nuclear weapons? Kindly remember there is also an additional problem of helping the countries which are not willing to enter into nuclear race but very much interested in deploying nuclear power for generating electricity which will be environment friendly.

Ø The need for holding three ‘S’s mentioned above are also related to other areas like sustainable environment, food security, financial stability, climate change and a global financial architecture. Unless and until visionary leaders adore corridors of power and develop a sense of commitment to promote world peace and harmony, all the three ‘S’s will not have any substance and be treated as a matter of no consequence .When will planet friendly leaders emerge and take charge? When will madness in methods of deploying nuclear weapons end in order that one can get out of this hellish situation? How can we dispose off them fully and feverishly? Perhaps in a dream like state.

Ø Achievements of Science and Technology are just intimidating rather than mitigating a host of ills and evils afflicting the broader humanity across the globe. Is God playing a game of dice through nuclear superpowers and smaller terrorist groups competing for more honors in nuclear arena? You can’t give a simple answer or straightforward solution for this puzzle! However let us not lose our faith in the goodness of the universe. We should strive for solution, though it’s elusive.