DefinePK

Abstract

India’s development of the Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system is not in conformance to its stated policy of Massive Retaliation. India adopted the strategy of Massive Retaliation, as the US adopted in the early 1950s, based on the basic assumption that nuclear war cannot be fought as there is no defence against nuclear weapons. The Cold War strategic thinking reveals that India’s emphasis on the development of BMD system in recent years is instrumental in its gradual unannounced shift towards counterforce strategy aimed to fight and win nuclear war. India’s shift towards counterforce targeting strategy, while possessing BMD system, is likely to drag the South Asian Region towards warfighting ‘under the nuclear overhang’. In order to maintain deterrence stability and to avoid war in the region, Pakistan needs to take measures not merely to neutralise the BMD system but also to deny Indian counterforce capabilities by ensuring the survivability of its nuclear arsenal. For this purpose of maintaining survivable nuclear arsenal, development of second-strike capability is critical.