This book examines the Indian nuclear policy, doctrine, strategy and posture, clarifying the elastic concept of credible minimum deterrence at the center of the country's approach to nuclear security. This concept, Karnad demonstrates, permits the Indian nuclear forces to be beefed up, size and quality-wise, and to acquire strategic reach and clout, even as the qualifier minimum suggests an overarching concern for moderation and economical use of resources, and strengthens India's claims to be a responsible nuclear weapon state.
Based on interviews with Indian political leaders, nuclear scientists, and military and civilian nuclear policy planners, it provides unique insights into the workings of India's nuclear decision-making and deterrence system. Moreover, by juxtaposing the Indian nuclear policy and thinking against the theories of nuclear war and strategic deterrence, nuclear escalation, and nuclear coercion, offers a strong theoretical grounding for the Indian approach to nuclear war and peace, nuclear deterrence and escalation, nonproliferation and disarmament, and to limited war in a nuclearized environment. It refutes the alarmist notions about a nuclear flashpoint in South Asia, etc. which derive from stereotyped analysis of India-Pakistan wars, and examines India's likely conflict scenarios involving China and, minorly, Pakistan.
Chapter 1
New Attractions of the Bomb: The Nuclearized International Milieu
Chapter 2
Laying the Foundation: Indias Nuclear and Missile Capabilities and Minimum Deterrence Concept, 1947-1998
Chapter 3
Maturing Nuclear and Missile Capabilities and Minimum Credible Deterrence Strategy, Post-1998
Chapter 4
Southern Asia: Limited War, Potential Nuclear Crises, India-US Nuclear Deal
Reviews
"Karnad (Center for Policy Research, India) presents a detailed account of the evolution of India's nuclear policy since
the country's independence. . . . This is an informative study by one of the country's foremost strategic thinkers and is a must-read book for anyone interested in understanding this complex subject. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels."—Choice
". . . a thoughtful and provocative argument challenging the view that India's growing nuclear arsenal contributes to instability in South Asia. . . . Karnad has crafted a valuable book that merits attention by anyone interested in the implications of the growing power of India and China for peace, order, and stability in South Asia."—The Journal of Military History
"Examines how the concept of 'credible minimum deterrence' allows flexibility in Indian defense policy."—The Chronicle Review
Endorsements
"Bharat Karnad has produced a very thoughtful and comprehensive book on the nuclear weapons issues of the next century, as seen from a definitely Indian perspective. While thus reflecting the national interests and national outlook of a citizen of India, Karnad at the same time draws in a wealth of the past fifty years-foreign literature and foreign perspectives on nuclear deterrence, far beyond what all but the very most involved Indian analysts will have ever read or contemplated, and indeed far beyond what almost all foreigners will have thought through. For someone trying to master the issues of nuclear deterrence, the footnote citations in this book by themselves would amount to a goldmine of the relevant literature."—George H. Quester, Professor of Government and Politics, University of Maryland
