India may revoke "NO FIRST USE" doctrine

[SABRE]

To be honest, we never believed in their NFU. It was a political policy to appease the international community, particularly the US. In fact, India's nuclear weapons programme for a very long time has been nothing more than a political instrument. Nehru, perhaps, wanted nuclear weapons capability to ensure that the ultimate defence of the Indian nation remained with the civilian authority and not with the military. Ayub's military coup in Pakistan appears to have furthered his belief that the military in India also cannot be trusted and must be distanced from the executive authority. Hence, he established a powerful bureaucratic structure between the PM Office and the military. He also ensured that the military remained out of the loop on the nuclear weapons programme. Indra went overt in 1974 to ensure that political support of the masses remained with INC and not the opposition. This is only had a short term effect as the opposition party (Janata Party) took power from her three years later in 1977 (opposition rule also lasted a little while). BJP in 1996 stated in their political manifesto that they will test nuclear weapons and re-start missile tests. There were no significant threats to India at that point. They just wanted to show that the INC had compromised on India's security by halting nuclear and missile tests under the US' pressure and that BJP is more macho in this regard then INC. Needless to say, this became one of the factors that ensured their victory in general elections. Another factor that contributed to India's nuclearizations in 1996 was the insistence of the scientific bureaucracy to do so. They had been sitting idle for a very long time, becoming more of a burden than an asset. Because of the above factors we see strong political, bureaucratic and scientific control over nuclear weapons acquisition in India. This is not necessarily a bad thing, except that the nuclear weapons in India do not sit well with their military's requirements. Indian military and nuclear industries make what will elevate their stature on domestic and international levels, instead of capabilities that operationally sit well with the military's requirement.

With the Mad Man Modi in power, India seeks to shift gears and militarize its nuclear weapons policy. This may still be a political move but India will shift focus on developing more of Pakistan (and China) specific nuclear delivery systems, including TNWs.

 

[maximuswarrior]

More bad news for the world who opts for silence and wants to sell Rafale/F16 fighters. Pakistan will deal with this menace.