Shell-shocked but hopeful: Europe’s mixed Nuclear reaction

The comments pouring in are interesting, succinctly summed up by a Western diplomat from one of Europe’s small countries who told The Indian Express, “International diplomacy is a mug’s game — if you don’t hit hard, no one will take you seriously. It’s a great pity, but that’s the only way to survive.”Major news wires, radio and televisionstations across Europe cut into their programmes to announce India’s tests and Tuesday sees a myriad group of experts and the ubiquitous intellectuals theorising about Mahatma Gandhi’s India.

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) which reconvenes in Geneva on Thursday is expected to hear a lot of condemnation of India led by Pakistan. But some disarmament diplomats who secretly admire India’s courage and most of whom are holding their horses till Thursday also hope that New Delhi may succeed in “blasting” the body to the negotiating table to talk about total nuclear disarmament, something which it has refused to do. Two year ago the self-appointed keepers of the world’s nuclear conscience — China, United States, France, United Kingdom and Russia — were willing to accept a meaningless Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) rather than have India on board by conceding to its demands for simultaneous negotiations on nuclear disarmament. Through Monday afternoon and Tuesday, CNN is replaying the 1996 shots offormer Indian ambassador to Geneva Arundhati Ghosh telling the United Nations India will not sign the CTBT because it is an unequal treaty.India has also stayed out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (the review process for which just concluded in Geneva) as that has divided the world into two — those with nuclear weapons and those without.

The CD is the only multilateral disarmament negotiations agency and many arms control treaties have been negotiated in this city. A string of Geneva-based journalists covering disarmament issues actually walked into this newspaper’s office on Monday afternoon smiling and clapping as news of India’s test spread. There is a new-found patience with India’s position.Europe’s major dailies have carried the predictable stories across their front pages condemning, criticising and complaining about India, and everything from the timing of India’s test to the colour of the BJP government has been dissected. The Guardian of London, has sensibly seen “seeds of hope in theshow of strength” to say that the only response to India’s tests is negotiations on nuclear disarmament, something the West has stubbornly resisted. There are other ways of placating India, but the newspaper says, “…only obviously progressing nuclear disarmament will remove the justification for decisions like those which India has taken…”

The daily which appears most shocked is The International Herald Tribune which ran a headline across the front page saying “India’s Atomic Tests Raise Old Fears.” The conservative Swiss daily Neue Zurcher Zeitung has signalled the event by printing a photograph of the Indian Prime Minister on page one — the newspaper rarely if ever has pictures on the front page. The German Frankfurter Rundschau has adopted a cynical note welcoming India into the nuclear club while Spain’s El Pais talks of an “alarma mundial” or international alert.

The highly-respected French daily Dernieres Nouvelles D’Alsace has asked editoriallyif Bill Clinton’s America has the means to halt the arms race in Asia while it is unable to do anything to the Government of Israel or Belgrade.

Something is happening.