Again, I respectfully disagree. Any use of nukes by either party will lead to a Nuclear war right? So what's the use of having a smaller nuke as opposed to the whole "sha-bang"?
It seems the concept of tactical nukes is based on the presumption that India will either:
a) Not attack fearing the Nasr (which is the same deterrence the Shaheen offered)
b) Withdraw it's troops after being attacked and not retaliate fearing a nuclear escalation
To clarify, what I am questioning here is the purpose of the Nasr. Strategically speaking; what differentiates it from any of your conventional nukes?
Your post doesnt really speak high of your knowledge about nuclear strategy (for instance when you first say things like 'Nasr which is the same deterrence the Shaheen offered), still just to clearify your doubts i will like to say this;
1) The CSD hinges upon the conjuncture that the attacking forces MUST archive its aim (i.e. destruction of Pak Armed Forces and/or destruction of so called terror camps) well before the international community steps in and put a lid over the conflict thus preventing it from turning into a MAD scenario. i hope we are on the same page till now, right?
Ok.
2) Now when the CS unfolds itself (whereby multiple thrusts would be made at different and varying theaters) the speed of operations would be of utmost importance. Why? Firstly, so that Pakistan is kept off-balance, preventing her to retaliate with force, Second; damage Pakistan as much possible within the stipulated time, Three; destroy Pakistan's defence forces/C & C installations so that when the push comes to shove, there's no one to press the red button.
3) Now this would entail continuity and perpetuality in sustainance of the operation in a very fluid environment. Now how about Pakistan wipes off an IBG (or a part thereof) with these so called useless Tac Nukes during the
very initial phase of operations? Which, in the absence of tac nukes might have taken Pakistan MORE (not quantifying it deliberately) time to do the same. We all know that all of the IBGs are not supposed to be reused (a military term) once they have been launched as not all of them would meet the desired success. Now let's say india considers that 4 out of the 8 IBGs would reach their objectives in may be like 60 hours after they have been launched and at the same time india also believes that these 4 successful IBGs would also have dne their job well (destruction of Pak forces blah blah blah).
Now this scenario is without the presence of tac Nukes. Now lets consider the same scenario with the availability of tac nukes. Previously 4 IBGs were countered/halted/thwarted within 60 hours with the non-availability of tac nukes, but now with the availability of the same, 4 may be more of the IBGs are countered/halted/vaporized well before the completion of 60 hours or 72 hours for that matter i.e. Pakistan achieved the same thing in 1/4 (may be more) of X time (X time being the time Pakistan had taken achieved the same results when tac nukes were not available). This would entail that your CS would go for a six in the very early stage. i know that some rather most of the jingos would now tell me that if this happens then india will surely retaliate with a similar but more massive response. i disagree! Why?
Well when the CS is based of the fact that it should culminate well before the enemy react in terms of a counter-value strategic nuclear attack i.e. it leads to a nuclear war this ensuring MAD, which in turn means that CS is nuke allergic, then pray tell me why would india NOT stop the assault and wind up the CS knowing full well that it can now not achieve the stipulated targets, instead of going all gung ho and retaliating to a tac nuke attack with a strategic one? Idiocity, perhaps? Or is it that your commanders would forget that the basis of CSD was nuke phobic?
Now this brings me to your other query. IS Shaheen and Nasr comparable? Well for now (keeping in view your limited understanding) i'll only say that targeting an IBG with Shaheen would mean inviting india to respond in kind as the this launch might not restrict itself to a counter-force target but it's sheer magnitude would make it a counter-value one. Also,the close proximity of the attacker and the defender would rule out a ballistic missile attack, why? Coz it's stupid. Moreover, this will never happen because if Pakistan finally decide to go nuclear, well it would choose target that fir in the counter-value/force pretext. Now compare this with Nasr, a 60 km range missile, with a very lower yield that would target a small portion of the the attacking force, which even if wiped off, might not result into a similar response, one because you dont possess a similar weapon, two raising the bar and retaliating with a strategic strike would make india the culprit, three if common sense if applied, a tac nuke attack is responded with a tac nuke attack, not with a strategic one!
Savvy?