Interview with Muchkund Dubey, 1987

Muchkund Dubey spent most of his career in India’s foreign service, rising to become Foreign Secretary in 1990. His involvement with nuclear matters began in 1982 when he was named his country’s permanent representative to the U.N. in Geneva and led India’s delegation to the conference on disarmament. In the interview he discusses India’s strong support for nuclear disarmament, and is adamant that New Delhi has “no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons.” He calls for a freeze in nuclear development, testing, and production, insisting that the Non-Proliferation Treaty is not doing enough because it treats the nuclear weapons states and non-nuclear weapons states unequally, and does not require the complete eradication of such weapons from all countries. He also discusses India’s skepticism of the peaceful nature of the Pakistani nuclear program, and comments on reports of China’s cooperation with it. He explains that India does not wish to participate with Pakistan in creating a nuclear free zone because he does not believe such zones can exist because of the nuclear capabilities of the superpowers. He therefore would only accept a global nuclear free zone. He argues that U.S. attempts at non-proliferation have not been very effective, and he briefly comments on the United States’ attitude toward Pakistan’s program. He concludes with remarks on India’s space program, the problem of nuclear terrorism, and several further observations on Pakistan.