Since 1945, The Bulletin of Atomic Scientist at the University of Chicago, has maintained a Doomsday clock to warn us about the impending nuclear holocaust. At the height of the cold war, the clock hovered as close as 3 minutes to midnight or "high noon". At the end of the cold war it was set back to 17 minutes before midnight. But after India and Pakistan tested nuclear devices, the clock has been moved forward by 5 minutes and now we are 12 minutes from Armageddon.

What, you may well ask, has this got to do with Goa being in the bull?s eye? New Delhi and Mumbai are priority targets for Pakistan; but, Goa, you may recall, is a naval base and is home to India?s submarine force and as such is a prime target for Pakistan. And one should not forget that Mormugao is within striking distance of Pakistan?s missiles.

Who would have thought that Kashmir would place Goa at ground zero in a nuclear conflagration between India and Pakistan?

Unlike the Doomsday prophets who tinker with clocks, I believe that Dr. Edward Teller, the Father of the H-bomb was right when he stated that the H-bomb was a deterrent to war.

Now that India and Pakistan have proven to their own people and to the peoples of the rest of the world that they are capable of mutually assured destruction (MAD), is it not possible that these two countries will sit down and arrive at a mutually acceptable "live and let live" arrangement?

Contrary to public opinion, religion is not the main bone of contention between India and Pakistan. In fact, for so many years, India has maintained extremely friendly relations with several Muslim countries, despite Pakistan?s attempt to turn those countries against India, over the Kashmir dispute. Kashmir is the key to relations between the two countries and pride rather than principle is at the root of the problem. Neither country needs Kashmir for economic prosperity (both countries are wasting lives and tons of money in Kashmir), but both governments want, and probably need Kashmir for political stability.

Let us hope and prayer that MAD will, once again, come to our rescue and Goans will not have to live in fear of a nuclear war.