New Delhi, September 6
Former Army chief VP Malik, who led the army during the 1999 Kargil war, has said casualties in the conflict could have been reduced had DRDO “not come in the way” in the acquisition of weapon-locating radars.
“We had one or two incidents particularly on the weapon-locating radar. If the DRDO had not come in the way we would have got them before the Kargil war and that would have definitely reduced our casualties,” he told Karan Thapar on Devil’s Advocate programme on CNN-IBN.
Asked whether DRDO was “slight boastful” in claims over developing weapons, Malik said, “Well that has been our (armed forces') experience over the development of weapons and equipment the DRDO has delivered or not delivered.”
On whether APJ Abdul Kalam, during his stint as the Director-General of the DRDO, overestimated the country’s capacity and ability, Malik merely said. “I do not want to go more into that.”
Amid claims by some scientists that Pokhran-II in 1998 was not a complete success, Malik says armed forces were “affected” by doubts over its efficacy and need to be “reassured” by the nuclear establishment on the exact yield of the atomic tests. Malik also said the statement by former president APJ Abdul Kalam, the DRDO chief when India exploded the bombs in 1998, rubbishing the claims of his colleague and defence scientist Dr K Santhanam, was “unconvincing.”
Santhanam said the tests were a fizzle, which were rejected by Kalam, who said Pokhran-II was a complete success. “They (armed forces) need to be reassured about the weapon system they use and about the planning of what kind of the yield they have when they hit the target,” said Malik. He dubbed as shocking the recent comments of Santhanam, questioning the yield of the thermonuclear device tested on May 11, 1998. “Yes, it affects the armed forces. Particularly, because, when they plan the task given to them then they have to know what kind of yield that each nuclear weapon has,” he said, stressing that it was important to remove doubts.
“Let us not forget that Dr Santhanam was part of his (Kalam’s) team. And it came as quite a shock with Dr Santhanam himself mentioning that it was a fizzle. Of course, again he was referring to the thermonuclear weapon. So, Dr Kalam's statement was not quite convincing,” he said. Malik said the team of scientists led by then chairman of the Atomic Energy commission R Chidambaram should reassure the armed forces on the yield of the weapons.
— PTI
