Nuke policy not in for a change
August 20, 2019
Research Fellow, IDSA, Col. D.P.K. Pillay’s article on India’s nuclear policy, titled ‘Nuke policy not in for a change’ has been published in Mail Today on August 20, 2019.
By saying that one may change the policy India is not saying that it will use nuclear weapons. It says India ‘may or may not’ the final decision depends on circumstance which implies that the power of a decision does not hinge on the first use by Pakistan. India, through its recent statements, wishes to correct misapprehensions Pakistan may have about India redlines. The message is that the initiative is with India and could be pre-emptive – not necessarily as a retaliation, thus making it painfully costly and crippling to even think of a misadventure. It aims to convey the threat that may be carried to restrain irrational or impetuous actions. It is calculated to stall momentum before the Pakistani establishment loses control of their own agents to trigger an inadvertent war, writes Col Pillay.
