Thread by @MohalJoshi

1 Thread on President-Elect Biden and his statements in the U.S. Senate in May 1998 post Pokhran 2 nuclear tests

2 (Then) Senator Biden attended a Committee on Foreign Relations hearing in the U.S. Senate on May 13 1998 (2 days after the initial nuclear tests in Pokhran on May 11 1998)

3 Some interesting excerpts from his prepared statement on the Indian nuclear tests. Earlier part of his statement is mostly critical of India (like other speakers during the course of this hearing)

4 Biden starts of by calling out India for its nuclear tests

5 Recognizes that India US relations will nosedive post these tests. Calls these tests as "irresponsible actions"

6 Says that USA and other nations have imposed sanctions & says that India (which was recovering from financial crisis earlier that decade) will now face a setback.

7 Makes some patronizing comments about India's moral standing & prestige post these tests & calls them to have been conducted for domestic political advantage.

8 Regarding possibility of Pakistan testing says that sanctions should be a deterrent but says disincentives not enough for a country that is already under sanctions.

My take: I guess some things never change like sanctions changing Pakistani behavior 😎 neither in 90s or now!

9 Wants to put pressure on India with other nations to get Indian to sign CTBT & NPT.

10 Our late RM George Fernandes gets an honorable mention where he refers to GF once calling China as India's enemy no. 1 in late 90s which ruffled quite a lot of feathers in Beijing (& also some in India) 😎

11 Usual mentions about slowing down missile development in South Asia and trying to mediate as big brother in bilateral disputes in South Asia which were par for the course during that time period.

12 Upto now in his prepared statement Joe Biden has been mostly critical of India but now in the final part the tone changes a bit

13 Recognizes the long term strategic interests of closer India US relationship. Says India unlike some other nations is not a rogue nuclear state. Says India has shared values with USA. While in short term relationship will be difficult calls for good relations with India.

14 Wants India to pay a steep price for testing but also acknowledges that nation of India's size and stature can't be isolated forever. Calls for engagement with India. Wants India to sign CTBT & NPT.

15 Again goes negative on India saying India did not need to test as it was already a great country.

16 After finish the prepared statement here are some excerpts from the rest of the same hearing (some times during Q&A session)

17 Biden identifies the India's defeat in the 1962 war with China as one of the driving factors for India to go overtly nuclear for it's security.

18 Hints that growing Chinese cooperation with Pakistan (sale of M9/M11 missiles) could be be part of the calculus in Indian minds to go overtly nuclear
Wonders if giving security guarantee to Pak (vs India) from going nuclear means possibly giving India guarantee against China

19 Proposes if India & Pak could be declared as nuclear weapon states & "brought into" the fold of NWS (nuclear weapon states)

20 Now this proposal ("to bring them in") is radically different to another Senator Richard Helms who wants India to completely give up its weapons before any rapprochement with India.

Excerpt below from earlier part of the same hearing

21 Biden advocates for some out of the box thinking with having India/Pakistan sign CTBT/NPT & be acknowledged as NWS which was different line of thinking then others during this hearing.

22 Says India will biggest country in terms of population in next century (very subtle hint at the economic/trade aspect in answer to Mr. Inderfurth : then Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs)

23 All in all while Biden did harshly criticize India for testing back then he did recognize the long term strategic benefits of India US relationship.

24 He did not want Indian to be thrown in the dog house for testing but wanted to find some way out if possible (assuming Indian signed CTBT & NPT which Indian did not eventually)

24 in 2001 as Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Biden said that the sanctions imposed against India should be removed because they may be impeding nonproliferation efforts.

apnews.com/article/7db49b…

25 As the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden worked towards the US Senate's approval of the US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement in 2008. He travelled to India (with then senators Hagel/Kerry) in 2008 before the US Congress approved the nuclear deal with India.

25 Back to the May 13 1998 hearing in the Senate the statements from then Senator Jesse Helms were incredulous & condescending !

26 Attacks India for testing when they have so many folks in poverty & says "disease and misery are rampant".
Wants India to abandon all nuclear ambitions

27 Senator Helms bizarrely now says that Indian space capability (+ nuclear tests) "actions clearly constitute an emerging nuclear threat to the territory of the United States".
When Agni-2 could reach barely ~2k km in 1998 this guy was dreaming of ICBM's !!!🤷‍♂️