The “Islamic Bomb” and India's National Security

Abstract

The periodic “bomb” debate has again been launched in India, predictably, as always, spearheaded by a section of sophisticated military-strategists. As in the mid-sixties, this time again the debate has been triggered off by a strategic perception of external threat: earlier, as a fall-out of the Lop Nor explosion, and now of the anticipated “Islamic Bomb”. This paper attempts, firstly, to question the adequacy of the military-strategic approach to provide the basis for a viable concept of national security; it argues the case for the primacy of the political and economic component of any concept of national security for meaningful policy-prescriptions, especially for underdeveloped post-colonial societies. It also pleads for the importance of political and diplomatic responses to meet any such threats to India's national security as may be posed by the “Islamic Bomb.”