Govt drags its feet on proposal for nuclear command authority

NEW DELHI, June 18: A proposal for a national nuclear command structure placed before the Government by the committee of the three service c...

NEW DELHI, June 18: A proposal for a national nuclear command structure placed before the Government by the committee of the three service chiefs is yet to be acted on two years later. In April 1996, the Chiefs of Staff Committee COSC during one of its weekly meetings recommended the setting up of a national command authority to handle a nuclear contingency. But like the other thirty-odd proposals by the COSC, this one too was relegated to dusty files, a South Block source said.

The COSC is the highest military advisory body in the country chaired by one of the three service chiefs on the basis of seniority. Even as several of the COSC8217;s vital proposals remain unaddressed, the recommendation of a national nuclear authority has assumed importance in view of the series of nuclear tests on May 11 and 13.

A national command authority would be the ultimate repository of decision-making during a nuclear crisis. quot;Any decision, however extreme in nature, would still need to be taken if India is under nuclearthreat or attack. We therefore need to put together an authority, military or non-military, that will be empowered to handle the crisis,quot; a military official said.

The proposal envisages an institutionalised body, comprising the requisite political leadership with a military advisory core. In the current political framework there is no institutionalised structure for handling nuclear crises. And with the disinclination shown by nuclear powers for a no-first use agreement, India would need to have precisely such a national authority.

quot;We could be the victims of a nuclear first strike, and if that was aimed at Raisina Hill and was successful, who would then assume the decision-making powers?quot; asked a South Block official. A national command authority would therefore need to be replicated at various levels in order for it to be adequately functional. Even if, hypothetically, the premier political structures were destroyed in a nuclear strike there would then be the necessary authority in place to assumecommand of the situation and take the requisite actions.

With India being committed to a quot;no nuclear first use policyquot;, a hierarchical national command then becomes a fundamental requirement.