Daily Times

After India’s nuclear tests on May 18, 1974, Pakistan obtained the nuclear technology, expertise and pursued a nuclear program to counter India which has more conventional force than Pakistan.

Pakistan is not interested in an arms race in the region, but supports peace and stability. The main purpose to pursue a nuclear program for Pakistan was to secure its borders and deter Indian aggression.

It is not a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Comprehensive Test-Ban-Treaty (CTBT) and Pakistan has not signed NPT and CTBT because India has not signed it.

Since acquiring the nuclear weapons, it has rejected to declare No First Use (NFU) in case of war to counter India’s conventional supremacy. The basic purpose of its nuclear weapons is to deter any aggression against its territorial integrity. Riffat Hussain, while discussing Pakistan’s nuclear doctrine, argues that it cannot disobey the policy of NFU due to Indian superiority in conventional force and it makes India enable to fight conventional war with full impunity.

Pakistan’s nuclear posture is based on minimum credible nuclear deterrence which means that its nuclear weapons have no other role except to counter the aggression from its adversary. It is evident that Pakistan’s nuclear program is India centric.

In November 1999, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar stated that ‘more is unnecessary while little is enough’. The National Command Authority (NCA), comprising the Employment Control Committee, Development Control Committee and Strategic Plans Division, is the center point of all decision-making regarding the nuclear issue. According to the security experts, first use option involves many serious challenges because it needs robust military intelligence and very effective early warning system.

However, Pakistan’s nuclear establishment is concerned about nuclear security of weapons for which it has laid out stringent security system. Pakistan made a rational decision by conducting five nuclear tests in 1998 to restore the strategic stability in South Asia, otherwise it would not have been able to counter the threat of India’s superior conventional force.

The NCA of Pakistan (nuclear program policy making body) announced on September 9, 2015 the nation’s resolve to maintain a full spectrum deterrence capability in line with the dictates of ‘credible minimum deterrence’ to deter all forms of aggression, adhering to the policy of avoiding an arms race.

Pakistan wants to maintain strategic stability in the region and it seeks conflict resolution and peace, but India’s hawkish policies towards Pakistan force it to take more steps to secure its border. Pakistan’s nuclear establishment is very vigorously implementing rational countermeasures to respond to India’s aggression by transforming its nuclear doctrine.

For example, it has developed tactical nuclear weapons (short range nuclear missiles) that can be used in the battle field. Former PM Nawaz Sharif said in 2013 that Pakistan would continue to obey the policy of minimum credible nuclear deterrence to avoid the arms race in the region. However, it would not remain unaware of the changing security situation in the region and would maintain the capability of full spectrum nuclear deterrence to counter any aggression in the region.

Dr. Zafar Jaspal argues in his research that full credible deterrence does not imply as it is a quantitative change in Pakistan’s minimum credible nuclear deterrence, but it is a qualitative response to emerging challenges posed in the region. This proves that Islamabad is not interested in the arms race in the region, but India’s constant military buildup forces Pakistan to convert its nuclear doctrine from minimum to full credible nuclear deterrence.

India’s offensive policies alarm the strategic stability of the region and international community considers that Pakistan’s transformation in nuclear policies would be risky for international security. They have recommended a few suggestions to Pakistan’s nuclear policy making body, but the NCA rejected those mainly because Pakistan is confronting dangerous threats from India and its offensive policies such as the cold start doctrine.

Hence, no suggestion conflicting with this purpose is acceptable to Pakistan. This is to be made clear at all national, regional and international platforms that Pakistan is striving hard to maintain strategic stability while India is only contributing toward instigating the regional arms race.

The author is a research associate at Strategic Vision Institute Islamabad.