A military option or a nuclear option to counter the menace being posed by North Korea was “not available” as it would put millions of people in South Korea at risk, former U.S. Senator Larry Pressler said here on Tuesday.
In a conversation with Narayan Lakshman, Associate Editor, The Hindu, at a promotional event of his book Neighbours in Arms – An American Senator’s Quest for Disarmament in a Nuclear Subcontinent here, Mr. Pressler said the leadership in North Korea was “crazy” and conventional arms were already aimed at the people of South Korea. The stand-off was unavoidable and the world has to “live with it”, said the former US Senator.
The event was organised by Penguin in association with Starmark and The Hindu Lit for Life was the media partner.
The man behind the Pressler Amendment against Pakistan contended that it was “more dangerous than North Korea” and the neighbouring country “should be declared a terrorist State.”
Nuclear risk
He claimed that several nuclear weapons in Pakistan were under the control of regional commanders and with “very little supervision”.
Mr. Lakshman brought up the topic of the role of military industrial state and whether it had any role in the relationship between India and the U.S. “The nuclear deal between these two countries is more of an arms deal,” contended Mr. Pressler.
Terming the military industrial state an ‘Octopus’, he said it posed a serious problem to democracy with lobbyists and law firms wielding influence in the making of U.S. foreign policy.
Mr. Pressler also replied in the affirmative when Mr. Lakshman asked whether Pakistan was initially ahead of India in the “lobbying game” before the latter caught up.
The former Republican missed no chance to praise the leadership of U.S. President Donald Trump and claimed that he was the best President for India.
He added the Trump administration was in the process of reviewing its Asian policy. The Vietnam war veteran also expressed his disapproval of the U.S. military’s engagement in that country. Though steady efforts to the propagate the idea of disarmament in the world were needed, there was “no silver bullet solution” available, he added.