Comments on: Benefits of Weapons Trade

By: Atanu Dey on India’s Development » The Dollar Auction Continues

Atanu Dey on India’s Development » The Dollar Auction Continues — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 04:48:42 +0000

[...] in WMD is clearly related, and I have pondered the issue on this blog before. From “Benefits of Weapons Trade“: Take, for instance, trade in weapons of mass destr [...]

By: TTG

TTG — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 11:49:56 +0000

Sorry, I assumed your post was referring to the recent “foreign-policy breakthrough” that Manmohan Singh has achieved. As for the rest, you’re, correct, but let’s not forget that there have been some benefits for mankind in general, which the necessity of War helped bring to fruition.

By: Atanu Dey

Atanu Dey — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 06:11:57 +0000

TTG, the US has been selling (and is promising to sell more) weapons of mass destruction to third world countries for a while.

The true weapons of mass destruction are the guns and fighter planes and subs and ships that are routinely sold. A few squadrons of fighter planes send millions to an early grave — not as dramatic as a mushroom cloud but more painfully through chronic starvation and disease.

By: TTG

TTG — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 05:35:19 +0000

It is not in weapons trade that the ban has been lifted, but in weapons-grade material. Big. Difference. Weapons-grade material is also used in nuclear reactors to give people electricity. Something which India might need…

http://www.economist.com/printedition/displaystory.cfm?story_id=4198960

By: Desi

Desi — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 17:58:36 +0000

Perhaps it is not too bad to be used as a tool in the imperial strategy of the US, if the end result will make India itself powerful. Why not avail of the resources that India can get from the US to counterbalance China? China is India’s long-term adversary regardless of whether India accepts the resources from the US. India may as well get all the help it can.

However, I recognize the pitfalls in following this strategy. The danger is that India may be reduced to just a client state of the US and become – arrgh – a larger version of Pakistan. I also agree with the points made by Atanu on the larger issue of weapons trade.

I think the most important thing forIndia is to learn enough from the US (and everyone else) to create a sophisticated arms industry within the country. While expenditure on weapons takes away valuable resources, it is unfortunately the price we must pay for protecting ourselves from the descendents of Mohammad Gahuris and Mao Zedongs of the world. For this purpose, it may in fact be better to co-develop weapons with Russians as they need hard currency more desperately than the US.

By: Suhit Anantula

Suhit Anantula — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 13:02:36 +0000

Atanu:

One of the unwanted side effects of WMD trade is what you have effected and the other is that US is using India as a tool for balance of power in Asia.

It has japan, and japan has lost its usefulness as a strategic country than before withe asdency of China.

Pakistan has been used from the 1950s as a lever against India and to keep India in check and to waste India’s resources.

now India is being trained to be a barrier to China.

The US Imperial Strategies (as any imperial strategy would be) of divisiveness is working well in many parts of the world.

We need to emulate the Latin American countries getting together on trade and the European Union in building collaboration and cooperation.

This is the only sound way of solving this. Economic Strength is the basis of power in this world and the more the Asian countries can work together and solve their economic problems the better for us and the lesser the influence of US on Asia.

Suhit