Little Green Lists

Continuing on the radioactive theme of nuclear power and weapons, India and Pakistan are exchanging lists of their nuclear facilities.

Nuclear rivals Pakistan and India exchanged lists of their nuclear facilities Saturday in line with a bilateral agreement to hand over such information annually on New Year's Day, the foreign ministry said.
The two countries swapped the information under an agreement signed in 1988 on prohibition of attacks on each other's nuclear installations, foreign office spokesman Masood Khan said.

"Accordingly, the information on nuclear installations and facilities of both sides was exchanged today through diplomatic channels," the spokesman said in a statement.

The agreement between the nuclear rivals was signed on December 31, 1988, and came into force on January 27, 1991. The first such exchange between the two countries was held on January 1, 1992.

Under the agreement both Pakistan and India are to refrain from attacking each other's nuclear facilities in the event of a war.

I think that this is definitely a good thing. It's along the same lines as the Mutually Assured Destruction concept of the Cold War. If, God forbid, a war breaks out between India and Pakistan, both countries have a lot to lose if their nuclear facilities are attacked, and if one does it, the other will retaliate.

The one thing that bugs me about this is that it seems to set the rules for a war that some diplomats in leaders in both nations may see as inevitable, and if one feels that something is inevitable, they may be less likely to take measures to stop it.

Still, this is, I think, a good thing overall.