| Summary/Abstract |
The evolving nuclear-weapons order in South Asia is striking. The region’s nuclear weapon states – India and Pakistan – have, since the start of the twenty-first century, been following respectively the rival ‘credible minimum deterrence’ and ‘full spectrum’ pathways to secure strategic stability. The diametrically opposite or rival postures, however, widen the spectre of a nuclear-flash and increase the plausibility of a holocaust.
In fact, they call into question the true intention of the parties and cast a shadow of doubt over the pledge to use nuclear weapons as ‘the instrument of last resort’. Attar Rabbani deciphers India’s ‘credible minimum deterrence’; disentangles Pakistan’s ‘full spectrum’ and examines the resultant consequences. It argues that the rival deterrent postures are the result of mutually reinforcing elements present in the respective nuclear paradigms.
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