By Pratap Chakravarty (AFP)
NEW DELHI - A claim by a leading Indian scientist that one of India's nuclear weapons tested in 1998 "fizzled" has unsettled the military here and opened fresh debate about the need for more trials.
The tests under the then-Hindu nationalist government sparked outrage the world over and drew sanctions, but were declared a success and are credited with propelling India to the status of full-fledged nuclear-armed state.
India has still not signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), but any further tests have been ruled out by the Congress party-led government, which has also acclaimed the tests a complete success.
Nevertheless, some in the nuclear and military establishment have used the scientist's claims to make a case for further trials, which would inevitably spark fresh tensions between India and its regional rivals China and Pakistan.
"Two things are clear: that India should not sign the CTBT and that it needs more thermonuclear device tests," K. Santhanam, the coordinator of the tests in 1998, told a newspaper on August 27.
He went on to spark the storm by labelling the blast from the thermonuclear device a "fizzle" and has since refused to elaborate or speak to the media. AFP made repeated attempts to contact to him.
India tested five nuclear devices on May 11 and 13, 1998, including the thermonuclear bomb that Santhanam said released less energy than the government's claim of a yield equal to 45 kilotons of TNT high explosives.
The effects of the first three simultaneous underground blasts, which included a 15-kiloton device and a plutonium bomb, measured 5.3 on the Richter scale at overseas seismic monitoring centres -- the size of a moderate earthquake.
Even though no one doubts the capability of India to deploy a nuclear weapon and despite the government's reassurances, the uncertainty has upset some and is being used by others to promote a pro-testing agenda.
"Our armed forces need to be satisfied with what is given to us," former Indian army chief general V.P. Malik said, echoing the views of several other serving officers who spoke to AFP off the record.
"The ability to produce nuclear weapons or to deliver them are not in doubt but what is in doubt is the yield of these weapons systems," Malik told AFP.
Malik, who was at the military helm during the 1998 tests, said New Delhi owed an explanation to the military.
"If this needs more tests then that is up to them (the government) but the armed forces, which are the end users of such weapons, need to be convinced," Malik added.
Homi Sethna, who steered India's maiden nuclear weapons test in 1974, backed Santhanam.
"I stand by Santhanam's statement that India needs to conduct more nuclear tests," the octogenarian nuclear scientist said.
Possible fresh tests by India have sparked concern in Pakistan, which conducted tit-for-tat nuclear explosions in 1998.
Pakistan, which has fought three wars with India since 1947, has reminded India of its pledge on a unilateral moratorium on testing.
"We are disturbed by media reports that India might be considering additional tests," Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said last week in Islamabad.
Current nuclear scientists and the Indian government have closed ranks to restore confidence and discredit Santhanam.
"If Santhanam has any scientific data to back up what he has claimed, I am sure scientists would be more than happy to debate it," India's chief military scientist R. Chidambaram said.
"This kind of statement means nothing," he recently told reporters after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too rejected Santhanam's comments as "needless."
M.R. Srinivasan, a former chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission who is credited with playing a pivotal role in the country's nuclear programme, also denied Santhanam's assertions.
"I hold the view the 1998 tests were correct and now we have enough information to design a minimum credible deterrent," the scientist told AFP.
India and the United States last year signed a historic civilian atomic energy deal which ended decades of India's status as a nuclear pariah and marked a new beginning between the countries.
Some foreign policy experts cautioned India not to be swayed by any demands for tests and jeopardise the pact with the US, which promises affordable energy to millions of poor Indians.
K.C. Singh, a former Indian ambassador, bluntly warned further tests could prompt Washington to scrap the nuclear deal.
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