p_saggu wrote:I don't know what will happen after this general elections, Maybe LK Advani will be prime minister, maybe Rahul Gandhi. Who ever comes into office, I hope will place India's interest above all else. And I hope will have the acumen to bite the bullet AND manage its aftermath.
P_Saggu,
The point here is what exactly is India's interest as viewed by the vast majority of Indians?
I know every jingo here, including myself, thinks India's interest is best served by testing again, preferably as Arun_S’ avatar said, before the ATV launch which means within the next three years.
However, we'll be kidding ourselves if we think every Indian thinks the same way. (They probably would if they had the perspective that we on BRF have got thanks to the gaan the guru's here have imparted. But that's not the case, unfortunately.)
As the good Doc pointed out there are other issues on the minds of most Indians who think a bum is a bum and missile is a missile and as long as you have them then you're at par with Massa and Uncle Jiang.
We kid ourselves if we think our leaders will rock the boat and invite all manner of pain - Suraj has encapsulated these points, so no need to repeat them - and go for a big bang, unless some unusual events occur in the international landscape.
IMO, as I pointed out in one of the nuclear threads, testing in the immediate medium term - say the next 10, 15 years - will occur only if there's a test by the P5 or there's a some major, major terror related event, like a dirty bomb going off somewhere, which entirely changes the geopolitical stalemate that we have today.
While I would welcome a BJP govt to come to power - if only for cutting down the Karats of this world to their true size - I don't think it will rock the applecart with a new test. (I would love to be proved wrong).
15 years down the line when we become a multi trillion-dollar economy and have a bear hug on Massa and everybody else through trade and other linkages, we can show the middle finger to everybody and test and no one’s going to say a word.
I personally think if China tests tomorrow, all there will be is platitudes and a great sucking sound from the US. China’s economy will chug along at a merry 10 per cent growth. India needs to reach that position before it can break the nuclear stalemate.
JMT and other disclaimers.