Symbolic Forces Driving Third World Arms Production: the Case of India

This paper examines the forces driving the pursuit of military production capacity in India, including those behind the Indian nuclear and space programs. We are mainly interested in whether symbolic motivations regularly find expression in the public discourse. We review all articles on the subject of weapons development and production appearing in India Today from May 1977 through December 1996. There are three closely interrelated yet distinguishable concerns in the public discourse which we consider symbolic: that military industrialization is a means of asserting India’s autonomy in international affairs, that is is a means of establishing India’s international status and prestige, and that it serves to enhance India’s self-image. We contend that the symbolic motivations represent a systematic component of the military industrialization process in India. The precise form that symbolic motivations take vary — some statements seem to have more symbolic content than others — but as a whole, such references are not rare or isolated.