JOURNAL OF DEFENCE STUDIES

Is India’s Nuclear Doctrine Credible?

Zorawar Daulet Singh is an author and foreign affairs analyst and a Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi. His recent books include India China Relations: The Border Issue and Beyond and Chasing the Dragon: Will India Catch up with China? Previously he was a Fellow at the Centre for Policy Alternatives in New Delhi. Zorawar holds a PhD in international relations from King’s College London, a M.A. in international relations from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University and a B.Sc. from the University of London where he majored in economics and finance.

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Zorawar Daulet Singh

January 2017

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Commentaries

Recent debates by former officials and analysts on India’s nuclear doctrine highlight certain credibility problems. Two inter-related pillars of the doctrine—the pledge of ‘No-First Use’ (NFU) and the assurance of a ‘massive retaliation’ response to a nuclear strike—have been scrutinised.1 The backdrop shaping the debate is the pressing need to discover options to produce a de-escalation or deter an escalation in Pakistan’s sub-conventional war. This is the context for the ongoing contestations around India’s nuclear doctrine. Is the doctrine lagging the security challenges confronted by India today? Is there is a credibility problem with the doctrine?