India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
While the world was distracted by North Korea and Iran, India launched a nuclear-capable ICBM with a 5,000-km range. In other words, India can now nuke China, Europe, Africa and Australia. And unlike the Norks, the Indians did not screw this up:
"The sleek missile, within a few seconds of its blast-off from the Island launch pad, roared majestically into the sky leaving behind its trajectory a trail of thin orange and white smoke before disappearing," a defence official at the launch site said.
Saraswat said the missile had been achieved despite the stringent export control regimes, which developed countries have imposed on India.
Ahem.
I'm a tremendous fan of India, don't get me wrong. But the Indian press is calling this thing the "China Killer," and that's really not the solemn and responsible tone one would hope to hear from a people who have just acquired the capacity to annihilate half the planet.
The Chinese are taking this about as you'd expect:
India is still poor and lags behind in infrastructure construction, but its society is highly supportive of developing nuclear power and the West chooses to overlook India's disregard of nuclear and missile control treaties. The West remains silent on the fact that India's military spending increased by 17 percent in 2012 and the country has again become the largest weapons importer in the world.
India should not overestimate its strength. Even if it has missiles that could reach most parts of China, that does not mean it will gain anything from being arrogant during disputes with China. India should be clear that China's nuclear power is stronger and more reliable. For the foreseeable future, India would stand no chance in an overall arms race with China. ...
India should also not overstate the value of its Western allies and the profits it could gain from participating in a containment of China. If it equates long range strategic missiles with deterrence of China, and stirs up further hostility, it could be sorely mistaken.
Ordinarily, I'd have quite a few questions about this, but at this point, I find it more calming to shrug and say, Que será será. At least we'll all go together when we go.
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Jul '11
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
Norks? The usages of this word that I know about only vaguely refer to missiles.
Jan '11
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
India and China both have about a billion and a half people. Pakistan is a remarkably schizophrenic wildcard sitting nearby. Throw in the Taliban, North Korea, and any number of variables floating around ... and that's a neighborhood you just want to stay away from.
I don't want our government commenting on it. I don't want our government "helpfully" offering to arbitrate or host negotiations. We should keep our national mouth shut, and stay away from it.
May '11
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
Who's next?
With Obama trying to eliminate our nuclear deterrent, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, the Phillipines, Australia, and even Canada should be worried.
Sep '10
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
The prospect of India having ICBMs doesn't worry me much, whereas the prospect of North Korea or Pakistan having them worries me very, very much indeed.
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
It's really only the fact that the idea of North Korean and Pakistani ICBMs scares us witless that enables us to consider Indian ICBMs with relative equanimity, you know.
Edited on April 19, 2012 at 3:04pmAug '10
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
Didn't notice that the mobile missle launch vehicle parading through Pyongyang was of Indian provenance . Pretty sure that came from China.
India's economic numbers ? UP
China's economic numbers ? In Tom Friedman's paneled basement.
Edited on April 19, 2012 at 3:12pmSep '10
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
Well, yes: it's all relative. Ahem.
Sep '10
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
Just fyi: India's neighbors to the east have more reason to worry than those to the west, because the rotation of the Earth makes missile range eastward a bit longer than westward.
Nov '11
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
I love India.
Jul '10
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
Ask Japan about surviving a nuclear bombing. Look at Hiroshima and Nagasaki today.
I think much of the angst of "nuclear" anything is based on not really being clear about what it does or doesn't do.
NOT that I advocate going to nuclear war over trite issues.
May '11
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
Devereaux: Ask Japan about surviving a nuclear bombing. Look at Hiroshima and Nagasaki today.
I think much of the angst of "nuclear" anything is based on not really being clear about what it does or doesn't do.
NOT that I advocate going to nuclear war over trite issues. · 0 minutes ago
Those were single low yield bombs. Although the US now voluntarily restricts its yields to just several times larger than those, other countries do not. Instead of one 20kt bomb on each of two mid size cities, assume three 200kt+ bombs on each of a country's 20 largest metropolitan areas. For good measure add one for each of the country's 10 largest dams, rural nuclear power plants, refineries, military bases, etc.
Edited on April 19, 2012 at 4:06pmApr '11
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
I find it ironic that China routinely sits on its hands with regard to North Korea, Iran, etc., for years (in the case of NK for decades) whose nuclear projects menace and distract the West; and then howls with indignation when the West choses to respond the same way with regard to India's more recent behavior. I think a troublesome China has just been introduced to its regional counterweight, and doesn't seem to like the experience.
Jun '10
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
It is comforting, isn't it? -- that India's military is both highly professional and highly competent and that all the basic industries are functioning so well in India. We know that this is the essential combination to create arsenals for democracy.
The left seems more interested in Eisenhower's warning about the military-industrial complex than the right in this country. I think it is this "complex" that won WWII and the Cold War and most wars in history -- especially recent history -- come to that.
So, I'm sure there is hard experience in Ike's warning and also I'm sure that he wanted to help balance the natural politicizing of this arena but we should take comfort from India's evolution into a serious and very worthy ally for us. Robert Kaplan writes about this in his book Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power.
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
Apr '11
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
Thanks Claire for your post and for the reminder of the brilliance of Tom Lehrer. I discovered him years ago from an underground, so to speak, broadcast in my area called The Dr Demento Show.
Jun '11
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
We should all Be Prepared.
May '11
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
James Lileks · 7 minutes ago
I never liked the moral relativism of "but that's ok ''cause the balance of power's maintained that way."
Plus, I think we might be a bit safer if Alabama had a couple of nukes beyond Obama's authority to destroy.
Jun '11
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
Ditto! One of the first inklings that my parents were real people -- not just Mom and Dad -- is when I found my dad's "Songs of Tom Lehrer" LP.
Oct '11
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
A Nuclear ICBM is worth more than the GDP of most African Capital, so I won't any sleep over our new Indian Overlords.
In fact some African governments might try to sell an incoming ICBM in the black market ... the buyer left to wonder how to collect his package.
Re: India Tests the China-Killer, China Freaks Out, I Remain Calm
Lehrer's misanthropy and occasional liberal sneering can get tiresome, but once I think of one of his songs, it's in my head for a day, and his ability to parody the essence of a genre and still create something unique was remarkable.
As for the missile itself, I don't believe they have it:
"Saraswat said the missile had been achieved despite the stringent export control regimes, which developed countries have imposed on India."
If there are international controls and sanctions, then there's no way India could have gotten around them. To believe otherwise calls into question the efficacy of these things; do you really want to go down that road?