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To nuke or not to nuke Nuclear Deterrence in
Southern Asia: China, India and Pakistan
Both India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in 1998. As a result, a new strategic scenario has emerged in South Asia involving not only India and Pakistan, but also China. This has given a new twist to the security of Asia as a whole and has created a new unique triangular relationship. This "triangularisation of nuclear powers" calls for new understandings, which go beyond bilateral dialogues relating to the three countries. The book examines the nuances of the much-chanted mantra of minimum nuclear deterrence and limited war between China, India and Pakistan. The southern Asian region provides a unique strategic triangle comprising three declared nuclear weapon states, which have been involved in conflicts. The other uniqueness of the three states lies in their having different political systems, varying approaches to arms control regimes and variable foreign policy preferences, as they now labour with hitherto untackled issues of nuclear weaponisation and deployment, command and control, military strategy and the one issue that is central to the existence of nuclear weapons—deterrence. The discussions on nuclear deterrence have been dominated by realistic assumptions based on the Western construction of threat and strategy. These assumptions have underscored certain types of conflicts between states and certain types of conflict-resolving mechanisms, much of which were perhaps relevant in the cold war paradigm. The author has tackled the two main issues: conceptual investigation into the notion of deterrence and the study of the theory and practice of limited war. He has addressed the strategic, political and military dimensions of the role of nuclear weapons through examples of the cases of nuclear weapon states having gone into armed conflict—the Cuban missile crisis, Ussuri River clashes and the Kargil conflict. He has also discussed various pressures exerted on decision makers in the context of notions of deterrence, the rational model and a limited war under a nuclear umbrella. The book can be useful to
all those interested in security issues, arms control and disarmament,
foreign policies and international relations, especially those who want
to carryout research in these areas. |
Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh returned from his official visit to the US recently with the most
important signing of a document on nuclear clearance for civilian use.
He got Washington’s commitment to help India in the civilian use of
nuclear technology, especially in the area of power generation. It would
bridge the approximately 11 per cent gap between demand and supply of
power in India, i.e., putting a damper on economic growth. The US ban on
helping India in the area of nuclear technology was said to be a
punishment for India developing its nuclear weapons’ capabilities. The
reason for change in the US policy was to help revise the nuclear
industry. This agreement between the two countries will certainly help
in formalising the three nuclear states of Asia—China, India and
Pakistan.