The Nuclear ‘Shame’: Indira Gandhi’s Veto Killed Covert India-Israel Plan To Bomb Pakistan’s Kahuta Reactor, Claims Ex-CIA Officer | India News
A former CIA nuclear proliferation officer named Richard Barlow has revealed that a covert joint operation proposed by India and Israel to bomb Pakistan’s secret Kahuta nuclear facility in the early 1980s was eventually supported by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Barlow called Gandhi’s refusal to approve the strike a “disgrace” that prevented a solution to long-term regional instability.
A plan discussed in senior intelligence circles at the height of AQ Khan’s nuclear ambitions was never implemented, Barlow said during an interview. He worked in American intelligence.
Proposed Covert Operation
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Declassified records show the pre-emptive airstrike was allegedly planned immediately after Israel’s successful attack on Iraq’s Osirak reactor in 1981.
Aim: Pakistan’s Kahuta uranium enrichment facility, the core facility of Islamabad’s nuclear weapons program.
Aim: To prevent Pakistan from acquiring nuclear weapons capability and to stop the spread of the technology, especially to countries such as Iran.
Commenting on the lost opportunity, Barlow said: “It’s a shame that Indira didn’t clarify this; it could have solved a lot of problems.” he says.
US Opposition and Pakistan’s Power
He suggested that such an attack would face stiff opposition in the United States under President Ronald Reagan, especially if Israel was involved.
Afghan Conflict: The then US administration relied heavily on Pakistan in its secret war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Any disturbance in this already fragile relationship was thought to be detrimental to this particular Cold War strategy.
““Blackmail” Strategy: Barlow says Pakistani leaders, including former PAEC chairman Munir Ahmad Khan, are using this dependency as a bargaining chip. They apparently threatened US lawmakers that any disruption to the flow of aid would affect cooperation in Afghanistan.
Reagan’s Position: Barlow said Reagan would react harshly to any Israeli involvement in the attack, saying it would “interfere with the Afghan problem.” Pioneered by AQ Khan, the Kahuta facility would eventually enable Pakistan to conduct its first atomic tests in 1998; The secret plan in the 1980s was supposed to thwart this goal.
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