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Nuclear tests were actually scheduled for September '99, says General Arora

Lieutenant General (retired) Jagjit Singh Arora today fully justified the nuclear tests conducted at Pokhran in May this year by India, and said it was much-needed and timely.

Addressing the media at Rajkot, the war hero of the 1971 Indo-Pak war, in which Bangladesh was liberated from Pakistan under his command, blamed Pakistan for running a proxy-war with India, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab for the past many years, and said the nuclear tests were a must to prevent a major war between the two countries. The nuclear threat makes the enemy think twice before initiating a full-fledged war as the destructive power of the nuclear bomb and the losses caused by it were beyond one's imagination.

According to General Arora, the nuclear tests were originally planned for September 1999, but the Bharatiya Janata Party advanced the date as it was committed to going nuclear. This, he felt, was done to extract political mileage but added that things worked in reverse as the Opposition condemned it and the subsequent rise in prices of essential commodities did not allow the BJP to derive any benefit from the political decision.

Commenting on international sanctions and criticism by most of the nations of the world, General Arora said America took the lead and it is its (America's) policy to prevent any new country from becoming a superpower.

He, however, added that America had done the same with China when it went nuclear but since China had a sound economy compared to India, it could withstand the sanctions. It became essential for the US to relax the sanctions against China as the latter was biggest market and sanctions had dented the US economy instead of damaging China.

The general hoped that the day was not far away when the US will behave normally with India as well.

General Arora is in Rajkot for two days to remain present on the 27th Victory Day, December 16, to commemorate the day when the 90,000-strong Pakistani army surrendered at Dhaka to General Arora.

UNI

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