NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND NUCLEAR DETERRENCE INDIA-PAKISTAN’S NUCLEAR PREDICAMENT
Keywords:
India-Pakistan, Nuclear Deterrence, Nuclear Weapons, Conventional Weaponry, Military Technologies, Cold Start Doctrine, ChallengesAbstract
It is observed that in the future war scenario between India and Pakistan, the
technologically-advanced conventional weapon systems are expected to play a crucial role
in determining the outcome of conflict. The hi-tech conventional weapons would act as a
force multiplier. The Information Age’s (IA) innovations would also pose serious
challenges to deterrence stability and its sustainability. Therefore, nuclear deterrence has
to be resilient enough to survive the enemy’s first strike, or even pre-emptive strike in
parallel with capability to retaliate and inflict unacceptable damage upon the attacker. In
fact, during the 2019 military standoff, India reportedly made its nuclear assets fully
operational. It was contrary to India’s stated No First-Use (NFU) policy. In future, such
nuclear posturing would influence Pakistan’s nuclear policy vis-à-vis India.
