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NEW DELHI: India's nuclear weapons arsenal, its command and control structures as well as the state of operational readiness came up for a detailed review at a top-level meeting called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday.
Sources said the "top-secret'' meeting of the Nuclear Command Authority (NCA), attended by the ministers part of the Cabinet Committee on Security, national security advisor and the three Service chiefs, among others, stressed the need for "faster consolidation'' of India's nuclear deterrence.
The "delay'' in the long-standing aim to have a fully-operational nuclear triad — the ability to fire nukes from land, sea and air — also figured in the meeting of the "political council'' of NCA, which is the country's solitary body that can authorize the use of nuclear weapons.
The NCA meeting, barely held twice a year to assess the steps being taken to ``manage'' the nuclear arsenal, comes in the backdrop of Pakistan once again brandishing its "tactical nuclear weapons'' with another test of its 60-km "Hatf-IX" or Nasr missile last month.
The short-range ballistic missile Nasr — with "shoot and scoot'' capabilities for "a quick response'' to "evolving threats'' — is being touted by Pakistan as a nuclear counter to even conventional military thrusts into its territory by India, in what many see as a reckless escalatory step.
Pakistan has surged ahead in terms of nuclear warheads, with international estimates putting the number as 90-110 compared to India's 80-100. China has more than double that number along with a formidable missile arsenal.
Both countries also do not have a clear-cut "no first-use'' nuclear doctrine like India. This is where India's missing third leg of the nuclear triad, in the shape of submarine-launched ballistic missiles, becomes all the more crucial.
A no first-strike policy must be backed by an assured, effective and rapid second-strike capability for robust deterrence. But the country's first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant, which was "launched'' by the PM at Visakhapatnam in July, 2009, has still some distance to go before it becomes operational next year.
With the first two legs in the shape of the Agni missiles and fighter bombers, India's nuclear triad can be in place only when the over 6,000-tonne INS Arihant becomes capable of "deterrent patrols'' after undergoing extensive sea and missile trials. INS Arihant has four silos on its hump to carry a dozen K-15 (750-km) or four K-4 (3,500-KM) missiles, as reported by TOI earlier.
India is also at least three years away from deploying the over 5,000-km Agni-V missile, tested for the first time in mid-April, which brings the whole of China in its strike envelope. The armed forces so far have Agni-I (700-km) and Agni-II (2,500-km) missiles, which are both basically meant for Pakistan. The 3,000-km Agni-III (under induction), 3,500-km Agni-IV (tested for the first time last November) and Agni-V, in turn, have been designed with China in mind.
Source: PM takes stock of nuclear arsenal - Times Of India
Sources said the "top-secret'' meeting of the Nuclear Command Authority (NCA), attended by the ministers part of the Cabinet Committee on Security, national security advisor and the three Service chiefs, among others, stressed the need for "faster consolidation'' of India's nuclear deterrence.
The "delay'' in the long-standing aim to have a fully-operational nuclear triad — the ability to fire nukes from land, sea and air — also figured in the meeting of the "political council'' of NCA, which is the country's solitary body that can authorize the use of nuclear weapons.
The NCA meeting, barely held twice a year to assess the steps being taken to ``manage'' the nuclear arsenal, comes in the backdrop of Pakistan once again brandishing its "tactical nuclear weapons'' with another test of its 60-km "Hatf-IX" or Nasr missile last month.
The short-range ballistic missile Nasr — with "shoot and scoot'' capabilities for "a quick response'' to "evolving threats'' — is being touted by Pakistan as a nuclear counter to even conventional military thrusts into its territory by India, in what many see as a reckless escalatory step.
Pakistan has surged ahead in terms of nuclear warheads, with international estimates putting the number as 90-110 compared to India's 80-100. China has more than double that number along with a formidable missile arsenal.
Both countries also do not have a clear-cut "no first-use'' nuclear doctrine like India. This is where India's missing third leg of the nuclear triad, in the shape of submarine-launched ballistic missiles, becomes all the more crucial.
A no first-strike policy must be backed by an assured, effective and rapid second-strike capability for robust deterrence. But the country's first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant, which was "launched'' by the PM at Visakhapatnam in July, 2009, has still some distance to go before it becomes operational next year.
With the first two legs in the shape of the Agni missiles and fighter bombers, India's nuclear triad can be in place only when the over 6,000-tonne INS Arihant becomes capable of "deterrent patrols'' after undergoing extensive sea and missile trials. INS Arihant has four silos on its hump to carry a dozen K-15 (750-km) or four K-4 (3,500-KM) missiles, as reported by TOI earlier.
India is also at least three years away from deploying the over 5,000-km Agni-V missile, tested for the first time in mid-April, which brings the whole of China in its strike envelope. The armed forces so far have Agni-I (700-km) and Agni-II (2,500-km) missiles, which are both basically meant for Pakistan. The 3,000-km Agni-III (under induction), 3,500-km Agni-IV (tested for the first time last November) and Agni-V, in turn, have been designed with China in mind.
Source: PM takes stock of nuclear arsenal - Times Of India
