Nuclear and Arms Control

India and the Nuclear High Road: Nuclear Cooperation Agreements with Japan and Australia

Apart from the United States, India's nuclear cooperation agreements with Japan and Australia have been the most contentious domestically within those countries. The 'slow embrace' of India's civil nuclear credentials by Japan — given the four years for negotiations to begin (after the December 2006 Joint Statement which talked about discussions regarding such an agreement with India) in addition to the six years it took for negotiations to bear fruit — took place despite the strategic context of increasingly closer economic, political, and security ties.

A Shield Against the Bomb : Ballistic Missile Defence in a Nuclear Environment

For every major military invention in human history, there has quite always been a countervailing technology. Nuclear weapons have, however, remained an exception. Ballistic missile defence (BMD) has, in recent years, emerged as a formidable means to defend against nuclear-armed delivery systems though yet to prove their total reliability. What does the advent of BMD mean for the nuclear revolution – will it make nuclear weapons obsolete or in turn lead to a new arms race among great powers?

Publisher: Springer
2019

This book explores what military strategy is and how it is interconnected with policy on one hand and military operations on the other. In the process, it traces the transformation of the notion of strategy from its original military moorings to a more policy-oriented and-influenced conception and elaborates upon a tripartite framework of policy, strategy and doctrine to think about, understand, and analyse the use of force. The book explores the politics of India-Pakistan conflict in order to root the study of Indian military strategy in the political sphere. It discusses three main issues that have ensured the persistence of conflict: incompatible national identities, Pakistan's congenital quest for parity with and compulsion to challenge India, and irreconcilable positions on the Kashmir issue. The book argues that India has invariably pursued limited political aims that did not threaten Pakistan's survival or form of government or regime in power albeit containing a counter offensive elements. It states that India employed the strategy of exhaustion during the Indian Army's campaigns in the 1947-48 conflict and 1965 war, which made way to strategy of annihilation during the 1971 war (East Pakistan), but after Pakistan's acquisition of nuclear weapons capability the strategy is back to exhaustion. The book highlights the importance of designing an overall military strategy for waging limited war and pursuing carefully calibrated political and military objectives by creatively combining the individual doctrines of the three services by establishing a Chief of Defence Staff system.

ISBN: 978-81-322-3924-6 ,
Price: EUR 119.99/-

Post-Nuclear Security Summit Process: Continuing Challenges and Emerging Prospects

The Nuclear Security Summit process was an unprecedented event that achieved phenomenal success in drawing global attention to the danger of nuclear terrorism.

Iran Sanctions and India: Navigating the Road Blocks

The monograph examines UNSC, US and EU sanctions targeting Iran as a result of concerns emanating from its nuclear programme and the implications they have had for India.

India and the Nuclear Non-proliferation Regime – The Perennial Outlier

Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN 978-11-0705-662-6
Price: Rs.895/-
The book describes India as a unique case of an outlier surviving outside the regime’s overarching system, as a nuclear-capable state with prolonged record of resistance (and selective adherence), but ending up seeking opportunities to engage with its normative structures. The ideological and policy shifts that had shaped India’s transformative journey from a perennial outlier to one seeking greater integration with the regime, though, also exemplifies the underlying strategic paradoxes and dogmatic incongruities. The book assesses how these dynamics will determine India’s role in global anti-proliferation and its status in the emerging global nuclear order.

Publisher: Pentagon Press
2014

The “Pivot to Asia” strategy qualifies to be called Obama Doctrine: a part of Obama’s “grand strategy”. This policy may radically redefine not only the US engagement with Asia but also the Asian strategic dynamics. This book looks at various facets of the pivot strategy, to include US, Chinese, regional and country specific perspectives with an aim of providing greater clarity and understanding.

ISBN 978-81-8274-769-2,
Price: ₹. 995/-
E-copy available

Publisher: Pentagon Press
2013

It would not be a cliche to describe the strategic contours of Asia as being at the crossroads of history. A number of significant events are influencing the likely course that the collective destiny of the region could possibly take in the future. Some of the key issues and trends have been analysed in this year’s Asian Strategic Review

ISBN ISBN 978-81-8274-719-7,
Price: ₹. 1295/-
E-copy available

Nuclear Terrorism: The New Terror of the 21st Century

Nuclear terrorism is the most serious danger the world is facing today. Terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and Aum Shinrikyo have expressed their interest in acquiring a nuclear weapon. The only way to prevent this is to secure nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands.

In Pursuit of a Shield: US, Missile Defence and the Iran Threat

The US pursuit of missile defence in order to counter and/or hedge against Iran's ballistic missile capabilities coupled with concerns generated by its nuclear programme has had significant strategic consequences. Iran on its part has pursued these capabilities as part of its asymmetric strategy to overcome its strategic vulnerabilities flowing from US encirclement, short-comings in force levels vis-a-vis neighbours and resource constraints in building effective conventional forces.

Publisher: Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
2010

IDSA set up a Task Force to examine the issues concerning disarmament with Shri Satish Chandra, formerly India’s Ambassador to Conference on Disarmament and Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA) as Chair. This report is the outcome of its deliberations. It seeks to examine the obstacles to nuclear disarmament and the manner in which they can be removed. It reiterates the dangers of the nuclear weapon states persisting with their current policies of privileging nuclear weapons in their security postures and neglecting their obligations under article VI of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).

ISBN 81-86019-69-3 ,
E-copy available

Publisher: Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
2010

The vision for the development of nuclear energy in India is not new. It dates back to pre-independence days. The nation had embarked on the development of large-scale infrastructure for nuclear power generation and building scientific-technological base for it. The process of the development of nuclear energy was, however, not smooth. It had to overcome enormous difficulties to reach the present stage. The obstacles it had to face were primarily due to the technology denial regimes adopted by various nations that either had the expertise or had harnessed nuclear energy.

ISBN 81-87363-98-3 ,
Price: ₹. 200/-
E-copy available

Publisher: Academic Foundation (2009)
2009

This insightful book, with contributions by leading experts on the nuclear issue in India, covers all such important aspects and provides robust analysis of the global nuclear order in terms of its implications for India and global disarmament.

ISBN 978-81-7188-770-5,
Price: ₹. 895/-

Publisher: Academic Foundation
2009

This book provides some important perspectives on the emerging nuclear order. The contributors discuss most burning questions of the day: What are the challenges to the global nuclear regime? What are the consequences of a nuclear Iran for West Asian peace and stability? Will it give rise to a nuclear quest among the important West Asian states?

ISBN 13-978-81-7188-752-1,
Price: ₹. 595 /-

Priyanka Singh , V. Krishnappa , N. S. Sisodia
2009
Book

Trilateral Nuclear Proliferation Pakistan’s Euro-Chinese Bomb

Emerging Nuclear Proliferation Challenges

Publisher: IDSA

ISBN: 81-86019-49-9

Rs. 500

US $35

Argentina’s Nuclear Policy

Publisher: IDSA and Knowledge World

ISBN: 81-86019-19-7

Nuclear India

Publisher: IDSA and Knowledge World

ISBN: 81-86019-11-1

B. M. Gandhi
July-December 2011
CBW Magazine

Y. Ashok Babu
July-December 2011
CBW Magazine

Animesh Roul
July-December 2011
CBW Magazine

Rajiv Nayan
January-June 2011
CBW Magazine

European Union Policy on CBRN security: A Primer

How Can Missile Defences Affect Nuclear Deterrence? An Offence-Defence Theoretical Perspective

How will ballistic missile defences affect nuclear deterrence? This is a question as old as the nuclear revolution but has attained significance in the current security environment wherein nuclear-armed states are increasingly pursuing development and deployment of BMD and their doctrinal integration with strategic forces and postures. Yet, the advent of BMD is bereft of conceptual clarity as their effects on nuclear deterrence is yet to be aptly understood.

The United Nations and Nuclear Issues

Strategic Analysis, Volume 44, Issue 5 (2020)

Critical Analysis of India’s Safeguards Agreement INFCIRC/754 with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

India concluded a fresh safeguards agreement (INFCIRC/754) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2009. All aspects of safeguards measures including the items to be safeguarded were deliberated upon, to ensure that India’s safeguards agreement does not result in giving any flexibility to India to use safeguarded items for unsafeguarded activities. The safeguards agreement INFCIRC/754 came with many additional features. Some of them are a result of the IAEA’s efforts to bring uniformity to subsidiary arrangements and structure and format for reporting requirements.

Indian Nuclear Policy—1964–98 (A Personal Recollection)

This is a personal recollection of the author on the evolution of the Indian nuclear policy and developments leading to the Shakti tests. Since it draws solely upon the author’s memory there could be errors and discrepancies in the account. This has been written in an effort to present a coherent and comprehensive account of the Indian nuclear policy, since, in the absence of an authoritative official document, there are considerable dissensions and misperceptions in the country.

Nuclear Arms Race in South Asia? – An Analysis

Ever since India and Pakistan conducted their nuclear tests in 1998, it has been the favourite pastime of many analysts writing on nuclear issues to cast the strategic stability in South Asia in dark tones. This urban myth is primarily a Western invention although at times writers in the subcontinent as well have taken some part in it.

India’s Deterrence and Disarmament: The Impact of Pokhran-II

After the nuclear weapons tests of May 11, 1998, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee made a matter-of-fact statement:

“I have an announcement to make: today at 3:45 p.m., India conducted three underground nuclear tests in the Pokhran range…. These were contained explosions like the experiment conducted in May 1974….”

US–Soviet/Russian Dialogue on the Nuclear Weapons Programme of India

The history of the US–Soviet and US–Russian dialogues on the nuclear weapons programme of India can be divided into two major periods: First, from Pokhran I up to the end of the 1990s, when Moscow and Washington shared concerns regarding India’s nuclear programme, and even their bilateral disagreements in international affairs did not stop them from reaching a consensus on how to react to the 1974 nuclear test.

Nuclear India and the Global Nuclear Order

The 1998 nuclear tests conducted by India heralded yet another nuclear age. The instant response of a section of the international community was highly pessimistic. It foresaw regional instability, collapse of the global nuclear order and serious crisis in the global nuclear non-proliferation regime. As a result, overlooking India’s security imperatives, a number of countries reacted with hostility against the Indian nuclear tests. Even international organisations were mobilised against India.

Post-Pokhran II: Emerging Global Nuclear Order and India’s Nuclear Challenge

Post-Pokhran II the global nuclear environment has changed both in terms of developing niche technologies as also the nuclear strategies. Apart from the traditional challenges, there are new threats emerging in the form of cyber, space, hypersonic glide vehicles, nuclear terrorism, etc. The development of multiple nuclear dyads and triads further makes the security environment increasingly complex, as nations now have to deal with multiple nuclear problems and adversaries.

Military Dimensions of a Multipolar World: Implications for Global Governance

For a decade after the Cold War it seemed that multilateral governance might take root under US leadership, including a reinvigorated United Nations and a strengthened international legal framework. The nuclear explosive devices tested by India in 1998 took place in a pivotal period when the so-called ‘unipolar moment’ of the US began to be challenged by states that were not satisfied such an arrangement could advance their national interests.

Pokhran 20 Years After: Did the World Change?

Was the 1998 Pokhran test a historical watershed as many contemporary observers believed? This article looks at its impact on the nuclear non-proliferation regime, regional security, India’s position in global institutions, and the ongoing global power shift: the non-proliferation regime continued along the old dispute lines; regional conflict behaviour did not change at all; India grew into global institutions not because of nuclear tests but because of her remarkable economic development; the re-arrangement of global power follows more basic trends as well.

Walking Back Delusional Nuclear Policies

India’s ‘dual use’ nuclear policy has been strung out from the beginning between the peaceful atom and military atom as illustrated in Jawaharlal Nehru’s use of the phrase for the country’s nuclear energy programme—‘Janus-faced’. However, the Indian Government has been too influenced by its own rhetoric of peaceful use to equally emphasise the security aspects that the phrase implied.

Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership: India’s Contribution to Strengthening Nuclear Security

In the 21st century, nuclear security (NS) risks are more tangible with the probability of nuclear weapons and materials falling into the hands of terrorists becoming more real. The NS threat scenario presents a complex matrix of violent terrorism, Islamist militancy, a proliferation network originating from Pakistan (A. Q. Khan Network) and its spread to Iran, Libya and North Korea. To mitigate nuclear risks and inspire global nuclear confidence, an institutionalized structure is critical for strengthening NS.

The Roadmap for India’s Nuclear Security

A watershed moment for nuclear security was reached when global leaders from more than 50 countries including India and other organisations met successively over six years (2010–2016) to develop an effective and sustainable plan for global nuclear security. At the end of six years, much has been accomplished to improve and upgrade nuclear security in several countries. Despite this perseverance, threats to nuclear security still remain undiminished, primarily because wrong people nursing a malicious agenda desire nuclear and radiological materials.

Special Editors’ Introduction

The 21st century is witnessing a renaissance of civil nuclear energy, particularly in Asia. At the same time, this century is also witnessing a rise in acts of terror, using newer and more lethal tools. The attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001 and other terror incidents have forced the international community to pay more serious attention to the possibility of terror groups using weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).

Iran’s Nuclear Imbroglio at The Crossroads: Policy Options For India

On account of pertinent international, regional and domestic dynamics, the Iranian nuclear imbroglio is at uncertain crossroads. There are however reasons for optimism. This is because of Iran’s continuing engagement with the IAEA and P5+1 and strong opposition from major powers to a military solution. In the light of the above dynamics, the Paper points out dilemmas being encountered by India and ends by exploring possible policy options in the evolving situation.

Indo-US Nuclear Deal: The Bill and Apprehensions

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Trump’s Own “Star Wars” The 2019 US BMD Review and What It Augurs for India?

The Trump administration’s BMDR, released in early 2019, can be described as the most proactive BMD plan since the SDI days with fillip given to areas like directed-energy, addressing gaps in boost-phase interception and harnessing the space frontier. Besides analyzing the BMDR threadbare, this Volume uses a hitherto unexplored cache of documents to reconstruct the anatomy of the India-US BMD dialogue so to ascertain why it failed and what the BMDR augurs for India’s BMD future.

US Presidential Elections 2008

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Thinking about Pakistan’s Nuclear Security in Peacetime, Crisis and War

This essay seeks to collate, sort through, and organise the reams of publicly available information and speculation to provide a systematic assessment of Pakistan’s nuclear security.

Deterrence in the Shadow of Terror: US Nuclear Weapons Policy in the Aftermath of 9/11

The paper assesses that in the aftermath of 9/11, efforts to improve and sustain the potency of US nuclear arsenal are far more pertinent than efforts to reduce their salience.

Nuclear Issues and the G-20 Leaders’ Declaration

The G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration asserts that the ‘use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible’.

Rajiv Nayan
September 15, 2023
IDSA Comments

Oppenheimer and the Indian Knowledge Tradition

Oppenheimer was admired by a section of the Indian intelligentsia for his familiarity with Indian philosophical traditions and his advocacy of peaceful nuclear uses.

Rajiv Nayan
September 12, 2023
Issue Brief

Nuclear Weapons Use in Japan and the Status of Nuclear Disarmament

Humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons use, dreadfully experienced in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, has had little policy impact on concluding a genuine nuclear disarmament convention.

Rajiv Nayan
August 14, 2023
IDSA Comments

Nuclear India@25 and the Adapted Nuclear World Order

India’s track record as a responsible nuclear weapon country is reflected in its policy of nuclear restraint.

Rajiv Nayan
May 11, 2023
IDSA Comments

Implications of the New START Suspension

Russia’s decision to suspend participation in the New START complicates efforts to revive arms control negotiations.

Rajiv Nayan , Niranjan Chandrashekhar Oak
March 02, 2023
IDSA Comments

Making Sense of the US–China Balloon Row

The US–China balloon row shows that the significance of methods like balloon surveillance has not reduced in the era of high-tech satellites and drones.

Safety Systems of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plants Complex

Complete demilitarisation is essential to assure the full safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant complex, despite the significant safety design features of the facility.

Aasi Ansari
December 29, 2022
IDSA Comments

Challenges before New START and Its Successor

If the US and Russia fail to negotiate a successor agreement to New START, there is the possibility of an unrestricted arms race with detrimental implications.

The Ukraine–Russia Conflict and Nuclear Misinformation

The parties involved in the Ukraine–Russia conflict should privilege nuclear risk avoidance measures rather than indulge in nuclear sabre-rattling.

Rajiv Nayan
September 23, 2022
IDSA Comments

Export Controls on Advanced Technology Trade and the Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Export controls or strategic trade technology control has been used as a significant tool to impose sanctions on Russia, for its military operations in Crimea and Ukraine.

Rajiv Nayan
August 30, 2022
Issue Brief

Erdogan’s Nuclear Rhetoric

While Turkey’s nuclear ambitions are not new, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's nuclear rhetoric is in the backdrop of Turkey's deteriorating regional security situation.

Kushal Agrawal
June 01, 2022
Issue Brief

Quad and the Ukrainian Crisis

While the US, Japan and Australia have taken an overtly critical stand towards Russia at the UN, India has abstained from all the UN resolutions condemning Russia. Will divergent views over the Ukrainian crisis weaken the Quad, is a pertinent question being examined in this issue brief.

What BrahMos Deal With Philippines Means for Indo-Pacific

The BrahMos deal with the Philippines marks a convergence between India’s Act East and Defence Export policies and adds to its profile as a reliable defence partner in the Indo-Pacific.

Ukraine Crisis and US–Russia Face-off at UN Security Council

As the emerging Cold War theatrics and veto politics threaten to further paralyse the functioning of UNSC, the Ukraine crisis is unlikely to abate any time soon.

Rajeesh Kumar
February 08, 2022
IDSA Comments