NEW DELHI, Oct 26: Amidst “dirty bomb” threat as Russia seemed to be upping the ante with winter descending, India has urged both Russia and Ukraine to avoid nuclear holocaust at all costs.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu and expressed concerns over the alleged threat of the use of ‘dirty bombs’ in the ongoing war with Ukraine. Shoigu on Tuesday said he was “concerned about possible provocations by Kyiv involving the use of a dirty bomb”.
Rajnath Singh reiterated India’s position that both Russia and Ukraine should pursue diplomacy and dialogue to resolve the conflict at the earliest. He told Shoigu that nuclear war should be avoided at all costs as the use of such weapons is against the basic tenets of humanity.
Soon after Shoigu’s comments about the “provocation by the use of dirty bombs”, the Indian Embassy in Ukraine issued a fresh advisory, asking all Indian citizens to leave the war-torn country as soon as possible. Referring to its previous advisory, the embassy stated the Indians should opt for available means and contact their officials if they needed help.
The term ‘dirty bomb’ refers to explosive devices that disperse radioactive material, such as Uranium, or Plutonium, after being triggered when the conventional explosives detonate. It is different from nuclear bombs as it doesn’t need highly refined radioactive material. It can be made using radioactive materials from hospitals, nuclear power stations, and even research laboratories and can be transported quite easily. Moreover, it doesn’t create a radiation cloud as in the case of a nuclear bomb. Instead, it scatters the radioactive material over a radius spanning a few hundred metres. There is no recorded use of ‘dirty bombs’. They have, so far, been tested only.
The aftermath of the use of such an explosive device can be devastating for the area and the clean-up could be highly expensive and time-consuming. It may well be rendered unusable for a long time, depending on the amount of radioactive material used in the bomb.
(Manas Dasgupta)