Zeenews Bureau New Delhi:
Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta on Thursday said that 1998 Pokhran II nuclear tests were successful and dismissed claims made by senior DRDO scientist K Santhanam to the contrary. Reacting to the startling revelation made by the top nuclear scientist K Santhanam, Admiral Mehta said, “The tests were adequate. We believe whatever the scientists tell us. The scientists said the tests were enough and tested. We believe the scientists, as they provide us with nuclear capability.” Admiral Mehta statement came while he was addressing his farewell press conference in the capital this afternoon. Admiral Mehta’s statement came even as the Defence Ministry and former national security adviser Brajesh Mishra too dismissed Santhanam’s statement, by asserting that India has a “meaningful” number of nuclear weapons and an effective delivery system to go with it. Santhanam, a DRDO scientist who was associated with Pokhran II nuclear tests, had claimed that the tests were only partially successful as the results were much below expectations.
The startling revelations made by Santhanam have raised doubts over country’s nuclear prowess and its ability to conduct such tests. It has also stirred up a hornet’s nest by giving fresh credence to the earlier debates in the foreign media over the success of India’s nuclear tests Santhanam, who was director for 1998 test site preparations, claimed that the yield for the thermonuclear test or hydrogen bomb in popular usage was much lower than what was claimed. As per him the yield of Pokharan II tests can only be classified as a “fizzle” rather than big bang. In nuclear terminology, a test is classified as a fizzle when the yield is below expectation. Santham had also stressed that the country needs to conduct more nuclear tests to consolidate its position and improve its knowledge of nuclear weapon programme before joining Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). “Based upon the seismic measurements and expert opinion from world over, it is clear that the yield in the thermonuclear device test was much lower than what was claimed. I think it is well documented and that is why I assert that India should not rush into signing the CTBT,'' Santhanam said. Soon after the tests, the Indian authorities claimed that Pokhran II test was a huge success as it yielded 45 kilotons (KT). However, this was contradicted by the western experts who said that it was not more than 20 KT.
Did Pakistan conduct a more successful nuclear test than India?
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