SRI M.R. MASANI URGES REGIONAL DEFENCE AGAINST CHINA

Summary

This three-page India Press Agency special dispatch reproduces an exclusive interview with M. R. Masani, then General Secretary of the Swatantra Party, on disarmament, nuclear testing, communism, and India’s security. Masani argues that the central issue is not simply disarmament but international control of arms, with verification and inspection free from a veto by any Great Power. He attributes the postwar arms race to both Western and Soviet policies, while placing particular responsibility on the Soviet government because of its alleged breaches of agreements and resistance to enforceable controls.

Masani rejects the idea that nuclear war is necessary to defend the values of the “free world,” identifying those values as individual and national freedom, the rule of law, free elections, respect for human personality, and opposition to totalitarianism. He supports a verifiable nuclear-test-ban treaty but defends continued U.S. testing as necessary to prevent a Soviet nuclear lead. The interview concludes with his opposition to Indian nuclear armament and his call for a conference of the free countries of South and South-East Asia, followed by regional defence measures and the removal of Chinese forces from Indian territory.

Key points

• Masani distinguishes disarmament from arms control and calls for an international authority with effective verification, inspection, and control powers.
• He presents the Soviet Union as chiefly responsible for undermining confidence in nuclear-test-ban negotiations.
• He defines the “free world” through individual and national freedom, free elections, the rule of law, and opposition to totalitarianism.
• He argues that nuclear testing by the United States is necessary to prevent a Soviet nuclear advantage, while supporting an enforceable test-ban treaty.
• He criticises Soviet and Chinese commitments to peaceful coexistence and cites the Chinese invasion of India as evidence.
• He rejects the military value of limited nuclear wars and invokes Gandhi’s warning that war brings moral degradation.
• He opposes India manufacturing nuclear weapons and advocates regional defence cooperation against China.