🔆Nuclear Power: India and Pakistan
✅India tested its first nuclear weapon in 1974, becoming the sixth country to detonate a nuclear weapon, and it has approximately 164 nuclear warheads, and has land-based, sea-based and air-launch nuclear capabilities.
✅India had declared a No First Use policy, which means they have vowed to never use nuclear weapons first in a conflict.
✅However, as of August 2019, India said they are reconsidering this policy.
✅India is pursuing membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and became a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 2016.
✅India has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty nor The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
Pakistan:
✅Pakistan became a nuclear power in 1998, becoming the world’s 7th state to officially test a nuclear weapon and has approximately 170 warheads.
✅This number exceeds the projection made by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency in 1999 that Pakistan would have 60-80 warheads by 2020.
✅If the current growth trend continues, Pakistan’s arsenal could grow to 220 to 250 warheads by 2025.
✅Unlike India, Pakistan has not declared a No First Use policy, and instead has opted to emphasise smaller battlefield or ‘tactical’ nuclear weapons as a counter to India’s larger and superior conventional forces.
✅However, it has adopted a position of ‘no first use’ against non-nuclear weapon states.
✅Pakistan keeps its nuclear warheads stored separately from its missiles and will only assemble one if it will be used.
✅Pakistan’s declared strategic nuclear policy claims to avoid conflict through ‘full spectrum deterrence’ while maintaining minimum credible deterrence against India’s nuclear and superior conventional forces.
✅Similar to India, Pakistan is not a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
