India, Europe and non-proliferation: Pokhran II and after

On May 11, 1998,, two concurrent events of great importance occurred which opened a new chapter in India's history and evolution. One was the nuclear tests at Pokhran which naturally attracted worldwide attention and even concerns of diverse nature, while at the national level there was unabashed pride at the scientific achievement. India's actions were seen as a challenge to the nuclear non-proliferation order and regime so painstakingly built up over the decades by the five nuclear weapon states and their allies. But the reality is that India did not violate any international treaty, political commitment or assurance in crossing the threshold to become a state with nuclear weapons. On the other hand, for three decades it stood outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) on a number of grounds, the public expression of which was that it was discriminatory and imposed a distinction between a few states whose nuclear weapons were legitimized by the treaty, while others were expected to forego the option to acquire them regardless of the realities of their national security concerns