India is in possession of the full know-how for making a nuclear weapon. This was the inference drawn by the replies made by the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha yesterday [July 10, New Delhi]. The Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi replied in the affirmative to a question by Mr. Samar Guha (P.S.P.) whether the Indian scientists of the Atomic Energy Commission were acquainted with the know-how of fission technique of purified nuclear fuel amounting to its critical size. The Prime Minister also replied in the affirmative to a question whether the Indian scientists knew of the mechanics of assembling fissionable fuel into its critical mass, and preparing the blueprint necessary for the fission of nuclear fuel to an amount equal to its limiting quantity. All the cryptic written reply in the affirmative amounts to meaning that India has got the full know-how for making a nuclear weapon. But there is no indication in the written reply that the Union Government has changed its policy of utilising the nuclear knowledge only for peaceful purposes. It is reliably learnt that at a recent meeting of the Parliamentary Sub-Committee on Atomic Energy, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai repeatedly said that India certainly had all the technical know-how for making an atomic weapon. While not touching on the policy matters, as a scientist he only reiterated that the possession of atomic weapon would certainly act as a deterrent to India’s enemies who had these weapons.
