India, Pakistan, and the Tussle of Escalation Dominance
The cancellation of a meeting between the Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers that was to be held on the sidelines of the United Nations General […]
Nuclear Issues
Brokering Peace in Nuclear South Asia: Crisis Management and Bargaining Frameworks
Nuclear South Asia attracts frequent international attention owing to the rivalry between the nuclear armed states, unresolved disputes, porous borders, and recurrent crises. These crises […]
Maintaining Nuclear Peace through Third Parties: Implications for South Asia
Strategic literature has generally posited that in crisis moments the goal of nuclear rivals is to deter direct attacks. This has been termed as a […]
Deterrence Stability in South Asia: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
In a 2014 article titled “To Sea or Not to Sea: A Nuclear Triad in South Asia,” I had argued that nuclear weapons at sea […]
SAV Review: The New Era of Counterforce in South Asia
Instead of reducing reliance on nuclear capability as a step towards disarmament, nuclear weapons states have been steadily modernizing their nuclear forces. Offensive nuclear postures, […]
Brokering Peace in Nuclear South Asia: Challenges of a Multipolar World
The Cold War witnessed multiple crises moments, involving both direct and indirect confrontation, between the United States and the Soviet Union under a nuclear overhang. […]
Brokering Peace in Nuclear South Asia: A New Lens
Every year since 1945, the month of August unfailingly reminds the world of the unmistakable power and dangers associated with nuclear weapons; this reminder also […]
Most recent
SAV Explainer: U.S. Response to South Asia’s 1998 Nuclear Tests
Why did India and Pakistan test nuclear weapons in May 1998, and how did the United States and the international community respond? This SAV Explainer […]
Should Sri Lanka Form a Single-State Nuclear Weapon Free Zone?
Policy discussions on South Asian nuclear issues are usually dominated by recommendations for nuclear risk reduction and crisis management between India and Pakistan. By contrast, […]
Nuclear BrahMos: On the Anvil?
Since the early 2000s, the BrahMos missile system has made India’s military arsenal a formidable one. A product of a joint Indo-Russian initiative, the weapon […]
India’s Naval Nuclearization: Repercussions for Crisis Stability
In an attempt to gain strategic superiority, major powers have sent nuclear submarines into the Indian Ocean for years. Recently, the Indian Ocean has witnessed […]
Understanding Kargil’s Nuclear Factor: Lessons for Future Crises
The summer of 1999 saw troops of two nuclear-armed states, India and Pakistan, fighting on the peaks of the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir, […]
Twenty Years into Nuclear South Asia: Pathways to Stability
Amidst the regional optimism in South Asia that immediately followed the February 1999 Lahore Declaration, few scholars and analysts of the time would have predicted […]
Is the Indian Military Preparing for Total War?
Three recent exercises undertaken by the Indian military suggest it may be gearing up for prosecuting war in the nuclear age: air exercise Gagan Shakti […]
Twenty Years into Nuclear South Asia: Mitigating Dangers Together
Twenty years ago this month, India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in Pokhran (Rajasthan) and Chagai (Balochistan) respectively. Expectedly, the tests sparked international opprobrium, followed […]
Twenty Years into Nuclear South Asia: Resuming Dialogue to Stabilize Deterrence
Deterrence theory suggests that a stable deterrence moderates the security dilemma between rival nuclear states. Nearly four decades ago, Kenneth Waltz, a leading nuclear optimist, […]
SAV Review: Flawed Narratives and Misperceptions About Pakistan’s Nasr Missile
The existing literature on Pakistan’s short-range, nuclear-capable ballistic missile (Hatf-IX) Nasr has so far generated more confusion than clarity about the implications of its role […]