India exaggerated yield of 1998 nuclear tests: US nuclear expert
WASHINGTON: Days after US defence officials rejected Indian claims of downing Pakistan’s F-16 fighter jet, a nuclear expert has asserted that New Delhi had exaggerated the yield of its 1998 nuclear tests as well.
The claim was made on Twitter by Jeffery Lewis, one of the world’s leading expert on North Korean nuclear weapons programme and author of novel “”The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attack against the United States”.
“I suppose this is a good time as many to mention that India also exaggerated the yield of its 1998 nuclear tests as well,” he tweeted.
To corroborate his claim, he also tweeted a link to report titled “The May 1998 India and Pakistan Nuclear Tests” which determined the yield of nuclear tests carried out by the South Asian countries. The report was apparently prepared by experts at Southern Arizona Seismic Observatory (SASO), Department of Geosciences University of Arizona.
The author was criticized by some Indian followers on social media who questioned his ability to understand the report.
Jeffery Lewis did not respond to criticism.
The Guardian in its review of the Lewis’s novel last year wrote that the author along with his team at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monetery has played an important role in revealing the extent of North Korean nuclear programme through the analysis of satellite images and North Korea’s own messaging.
“It is quite likely that if the war happened, Lewis would be summoned by an investigation commission seeking to determine what had gone so disastrously wrong.
The author has also been critical of US President Donald Trump for what he says Republican leader’s unrealistic expectation based on a misunderstanding of North Korean regime.