India has launched its first nuclear submarine. The 3 billion dollar vessel had been in development for twenty years and its launch underlines India's status as one of the world's leading nuclear powers. It already has several nuclear weapons.
But does India actually need a nuclear submarine?

Professor Ko Colijn, a Dutch military and international relations specialist with the Netherlands Institute for Foreign Affairs Clingendael, says India believes it does. “It’s the aim of the big powers – which India thinks it belongs to – to have an ultimate nuclear deterrent capacity. In this field, a submarine is supposed to be part of that ultimate capacity”.

Isolation
India is one of only a handful of nuclear powers in the world, although it refuses to ratify the worldwide nuclear non proliferation treaty. This has led to years of isolation when many countries – including the US – refused to trade nuclear technology and knowledge with India.

Last year, however, President George W. Bush changed his mind and allowed a nuclear deal between India and the US, a move that was endorsed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Sunday’s submarine launch was another sign that India is slowly coming out of its nuclear isolation.
 

Flashpoint
With other countries in the region, such as Pakistan and China, also making huge steps in the development of nuclear technology, some critics fear this region could be a dangerous nuclear flashpoint. “There is definitely a nuclear arms race going on in the Indian Ocean area”, Mr Colijn agrees. “But as far as this submarine is concerned, it is more directed at China, which already has several nuclear submarines. India merely wants to follow in China’s footsteps”.

Indian Prime Minister Mammohan Singh said at the launch that the submarine will not be used to threaten India’s neighbours, such as Pakistan, which in itself is a nuclear power. “We don’t have any aggressive designs”, he said.
 

Poverty
With millions of Indians living in extreme poverty, it will be hard for Mr Singh to justify the three billion dollars investment, says Mr Colijn. “He will face some criticism, internally and from abroad. But on the other hand, India is a very large country and it is emerging as a big power that would like to belong to the big clubs like G8 or the G20. India will see this investment as a justification of its position as an upcoming superpower”.

Should the West be worried about these developments? “Not really, as both the Americans and the French have already supported this modernisation”, says Mr Colijn. “It depends on what the Indians want to achieve. I don’t think they have the ambition to become a world dominating nuclear power. There’s only a limited, regional ambition”.
 

Listen to a Newsline interview with Prof. Ko Colijn: