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India defines outer limit of weapons programme
New Delhi: Eleven years after it detonated nuclear bombs at Pokhran, India has defined the outer limits of its strategic weapons programme.
There will be no Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles, so far considered the litmus for being acknowledged as a bona fide nuclear power.
Instead, India will restrict its weapons delivery to medium-range rockets, aimed at countering only regional threats
“We need credible minimum deterrence not against the whole world. We need the capability only with respect to our neighbourhood,” said Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta.
From Network 18's summit on 'Enhancing Defence Capabilities', India's military establishment sent the message that New Delhi does not wish to extend its nuclear posture beyond China and Pakistan, that it is wielding nuclear arms only as weapons of peace and that India is content with being a regional power.
“To ensure peace and stability in the region, we must have credible minimum deterrence,” said Mehta.
Indeed, the main emphasis in New Delhi's doctrine of credible minimum deterrence is on minimum. Mehta announced that India is even restricting the size of its nuclear submarine fleet to just three
“Three submarines are sufficient. These should take us through the next 15 years,” Mehta said.
India was the first civilization in the world to conceive of both weapons of mass destruction -- the Brahmastra and the ultimate doctrine of non-violence, Ahimsa. As it tries to reconcile the diverse ideological strains, the big question is - can a nation become a credible nuclear power by half measures?
New Delhi: Eleven years after it detonated nuclear bombs at Pokhran, India has defined the outer limits of its strategic weapons programme.
There will be no Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles, so far considered the litmus for being acknowledged as a bona fide nuclear power.
Instead, India will restrict its weapons delivery to medium-range rockets, aimed at countering only regional threats
“We need credible minimum deterrence not against the whole world. We need the capability only with respect to our neighbourhood,” said Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta.
From Network 18's summit on 'Enhancing Defence Capabilities', India's military establishment sent the message that New Delhi does not wish to extend its nuclear posture beyond China and Pakistan, that it is wielding nuclear arms only as weapons of peace and that India is content with being a regional power.
“To ensure peace and stability in the region, we must have credible minimum deterrence,” said Mehta.
Indeed, the main emphasis in New Delhi's doctrine of credible minimum deterrence is on minimum. Mehta announced that India is even restricting the size of its nuclear submarine fleet to just three
“Three submarines are sufficient. These should take us through the next 15 years,” Mehta said.
India was the first civilization in the world to conceive of both weapons of mass destruction -- the Brahmastra and the ultimate doctrine of non-violence, Ahimsa. As it tries to reconcile the diverse ideological strains, the big question is - can a nation become a credible nuclear power by half measures?