NEW DELHE; By announcing the test trial of Trishul surface-to-air missile at the Interim Test Range, Chandipore in Orissa, on Aug.8, when the US Ambassador to India Frank G. Wisner presented his credentials to the President, the Government seems to have sent 4n unmistakable signal to the US that “it would not succumb to any pressure to end its missile program,’ according to media. Though Trishul is a defensive missile and does not come under the ambit of the non-proliferation regime of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the holding of the tests on the eve of Wisner’s presenting credentials appears to have been a well thought out exercise.
In other words, the development of Trishul has reached the stage, where it is being tested for induction into the air defense strategies.
This is significant since Mr. Wisner, who specializes in nonproliferation and disarmament issues, has in the past told both House and Senate Committees that he considered the missile race in the sub-continent to have adverse possibilities for stability and security in the region.
Mr. Wisner presenting his credentials may have given the Indian establishment an opportunity to send a firm signal.
If the US Government was unhappy, the Indian Government could argue that after all Tashul was an air defense system and did not Value MTCR regime. At the same time, the US would also get the signal that arm-twisting would not Work with a country, which had legitimate security concerns, bordered as it is by two nuclear weapon owning Countries, one of whom, Pakistan, is openly hostile.
But more than that, the Indian Government seems to have timed the tests deliberately. Only three ‘Weeks ago the Defense Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) of the Pakistani Government decided to revive the Haft-II missile program, which had been put on hold two years ago under pressure from the US Administration.
The Hatf-II, which is nothing but put together Chinese “M” series of surface-to-surface missile, is Pakistani’s professed answer to the Indian Prithvi missile, the testing of which had so annoyed the US.
The Indian Government has also taken note of the fact that the US has not reacted to the Pakistani decision to revive the Haft program, while it has tied itself into knots with its protests against Prithvi. .
The Indian Government has also expressed its unhappiness to the US over the latter’s lukewarm reaction to the Chinese supply of M-11 missile kits to Pakistan, while the US Administration, the Senate, the House and the think tanks constantly demonizing the Indian missile program.
The Indian argument is very clear, ‘There is a missile race on in the sub-continent and the US is closing its eyes to the Pakistani part of it.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 5, 1994
