Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has accused the Congress party of making a “historic blunder” in the 1980s by not taking action to stop Pakistan from becoming a nuclear power.
According to Sarma, India’s intelligence agency R\&AW had confirmed that Pakistan was enriching uranium at the Kahuta facility, and even Israel had offered support—including intelligence and joint strike planning—to help India carry out a pre-emptive attack. The Indian military was reportedly on board, and the Jamnagar Air Base had been identified as a possible launch site.
However, Sarma claims that then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi backed out at the last moment due to fears of international backlash, and her successor, Rajiv Gandhi, later scrapped the plan completely, choosing diplomacy over deterrence. In 1988, Rajiv Gandhi signed a no-strike nuclear agreement with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, promising not to attack each other’s nuclear sites. Sarma argues that this missed opportunity allowed Pakistan to conduct nuclear tests in 1998, pulling India into an expensive nuclear arms race.
He says Pakistan has since used its nuclear weapons as a shield to support conflicts like the Kargil war and proxy terrorism, referring to this as “nuclear blackmail.” He also criticized the CPI(M), a member of the opposition INDIA bloc, for promising in their 2024 manifesto to reduce India’s nuclear deterrent. Sarma concluded that while strong leadership requires courage and vision, Congress chose delay and caution, missing a key chance to ensure India’s long-term security.
