Abstract: It is worth asking whether short-range, low-yield nuclear weapons really serve Pakistan’s interests.
Country or Region: Pakistan
Balachandran, G
Preview: Ever since India and Pakistan conducted their nuclear tests in 1998, it has been the favourite pastime of many analysts writing on nuclear issues to cast the strategic stability in South Asia in dark tones. This urban myth is primarily a Western invention although at times writers in the subcontinent as well have taken some part in it. However, a closer look at the environment in South Asia and the mechanics and requirements for a nuclear arms race would clearly establish the extremely unlikely possibility of an arms race in South Asia.
Cavanna, Thomas P
Abstract: How much does the United States care about nonproliferation? Recent scholarship suggests that the fear of spreading nuclear weapons was central to the US grand strategy in the Cold War. In one important case, however, this argument does not hold. This article draws on theoretical debates and newly declassified archives to demonstrate the primacy of geopolitics over nonproliferation in Washington’s policy toward India and Pakistan. Despite their rhetoric, Democratic and Republican leaders consistently relegated nonproliferation to the backburner whenever it conflicted with other strategic goals. Moreover, they inadvertently encouraged proliferation in South Asia at three inter-connected levels: technology, security, and identity.
Rajagopalan, Rajesh, and Atul Mishra
Abstract: This dictionary provides a comprehensive and ready guide to the key concepts, issues, persons, and technologies related to the nuclear programmes of India and Pakistan and other South Asian states. This will serve as a useful reference especially as the nuclear issue continues to be an important domestic and international policy concern.
Biswas, Arka
Abstract: William W. Kaufmann assessed the efficacy of the United States’ strategy of massive retaliation, introduced in January 1954 by then Secretary of State John F. Dulles, on three areas: capability, cost, and intention. Having established parity between New Delhi’s current interpretation of massive retaliation and that of Dulles in 1954, this article applies Kaufmann’s framework to gauge the credibility of India’s strategy of massive retaliation. Taking cognizance of current developments in India–Pakistan relations and of India’s evolving strategic priorities, this article argues that conditions neither exist nor could be created for massive retaliation to be a credible strategy of nuclear deterrence for India.
Panneerselvam, Prakash
Abstract
The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) provides a great platform for China and Pakistan to promote regional trade activity. The massive infrastructure project to improve maritime and road connectivity is viewed as being a “game-changer” for Pakistan’s economy. However, the CPEC project at its core is envisaged as the link between China’s ambitious “One Belt and One Road” project and the “Maritime Silk Route” project. There is plausibility in the argument that connectivity projects, naval cooperation and the deepening bilateral relationship with the littorals of the Indian Ocean, particularly Pakistan, would certainly increase China’s maritime influence in the region. In view of the above, the paper will analyse how the China–Pakistan naval cooperation will upset the regional balance and intensify the naval competition between India and China in the Arabian Sea.
Huda, Mirza Sadaqat, and Saleem H. Ali
Abstract
On the 13th of December 2015, the leaders of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India officially inaugurated the TAPI pipeline, which is set to be the largest cross-country energy infrastructure project undertaken in South Asia with an expected completion date of 2019. The limited literature on TAPI has almost exclusively focused on security impediments to the pipeline from the perspective of the member countries of the project. This paper argues that the solution to these impediments is greatly constrained by a reductionist rather than a multistakeholder approach. Using a broader understanding of the concept of energy diplomacy, this paper argues that energy infrastructure such as the TAPI can be used to encourage interdependency by expanding the number of stakeholders beyond the member countries of the project. While including the interests of external countries and institutions may build consensus on political issues, identifying ways by which the interests of communities can be addressed may reduce the explicit emphasis on the physical security of the pipeline by including human security concerns within the project’s blueprint. The cumulative impact of such an approach may create a shift in the perception of energy projects from the purview of security, to one of inclusive cooperation.
Griffiths, Richard T
Abstract
A silk road connected Europe and Chinese civilizations thousands of years ago, and it reshaped much of the world’s commerce and culture.
In 2013, the president of China, Xi Jinping, proposed using his nation’s financial power, industrial capacity, and diplomatic leverage to create a modern-day version of the ancient road.
With freight trains trundling along thousands of kilometers of railway linking Chongqing in the East to the Dutch border, in the West, the effects of such a pathway are already being seen. At sea China is building new, modern ports and harbours in Malaysia, Pakistan and Greece. New pipeline snake through Kazakhstan and Myanmar. The effects of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative are being felt in countries as far away as Indonesia and Bulgaria, and from the beginning, Chinese authorities have said the initiative will ultimately cover sixty-five countries with a combined population of 4.4 billion people.
Saha, Subrata
Abstract
In the present circumstances, where vicious propaganda is clouding and vitiating young minds, the nation, as the Prime Minister says, needs to embrace the people, help the youth to get their lives back on track. An effective outreach with the 4Es of Engagement, Education, Empowerment and Employment, is the key. And it has to be sustaining. The effort has to be collaborative, providing opportunities for both local talent and local leadership to flourish. This requires imagination, innovation, perseverance and mutual accommodation.
Full text available at http://www.indiandefencereview.com
Banerjee, Gautam
Abstract
So far we have attributed the PRC’s military build-up to its likelihood of turning into a regional tormentor. Indeed, it is wise to be circumspect. Besides, in the entire pan Asian region, there prevails an innate apprehension of Han highhandedness. Over a period of time thus, the incongruities in cultural make-up of rest of the Asian nations, including the people of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, with that of the Chinese methods of functioning, might surface. The Asians would, therefore, be wise to girdle up in any way they can to live through the times ahead that might be fraught with dangers of being pushed into subservience with occasional administration of small concessions and punitive measures reserved for the defiant.
Full text available at http://www.indiandefencereview.com
Bajwa, J.S
Abstract
‘He thinks we think… So we must’! The dilemma of when to use a nuclear weapon; how many to use; where to use is indicative of failure of deterrence!! Mao Tse-tung may have said (in August 1946), “The atom bomb is a ‘paper tiger’ which the United States reactionaries use to scare people. It looks terrible, but in fact it isn’t.” However, the Chinese did not restrain themselves in exploding an ‘atom bomb’ in 1964 and have since then given highest priority to developing nuclear capability. The reality that has emerged is that as long as nuclear weapons are around, even in small numbers, there will be a need to deter their use. Deterring these being used in a conflict between two nations, both possessing nuclear weapons, is the test of a nation’s determination. There is also a need to ensure that these weapons are not being used by one that possesses nuclear weapons against a nation not possessing nuclear weapons and that this self-restraint is to be a nation’s moral code.
Arpi, Claude
Abstract
The Corridor is, first and foremost, a vital investment for Beijing, which is slowly ‘buying’ the strategic link. Beijing will soon control its new dominion, Pakistan. For India, it will be a game changer as it will then directly face China on two fronts, the Northern and the Western. The Modi government should ponder about this. It is a New Great but not easy Game. What looks like a masterstroke on paper could turn into a nightmare for both China and Pakistan, unless India is taken onboard. But at a time when Pakistan continues to fuel unrest in the Kashmir Valley with the silent consent of China, how can Islamabad get New Delhi’s blessings for such a gigantic project? Today, China and Pakistan may be gambling, but China has no choice but to understand India’s concerns on the issue.
Sachev, A.K
Abstract
The threat of co-ordinated action by China and Pakistan is a distinct possibility and, under such a scenario, the IAF would have to spread its assets on two fronts; that would render the PLAAF threat from Tibet even more worrisome. How worrisome would that threat be? The IAF is now posturing in the East to counter the PLAAF presence in Tibet. While the apparition of a two-front war does haunt the Indian psyche, there are counter arguments to suggest that in the event of a Chinese aggression a la 1962, Pakistan may be held back by international pressure led by the US, to desist from opening up another front.
Mannan, Md. Abdul
Abstract
This article engages with Bangladesh’s policy of seeking alignment with Pakistan, pursued by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government in different tenures from the 1990s on. In this endeavour, the article takes into account the BNP’s politics of Islamic identity as a key variable of analysis. This identity factor tacitly presents Bangladesh, Pakistan and India as ‘Muslim Bangladesh’, ‘Muslim Pakistan’, and ‘Hindu India’, respectively. It frames ‘Muslim Pakistan’ as a mutual ally of ‘Muslim Bangladesh’ and shares with Pakistan a view of ‘Hindu India’ as the enemy-other. It operates in foreign policy through domestic politics in Bangladesh, wherein for the BNP, being anti-Indian is synonymous with being pro-Islam. It is claimed in this article that this politics of Islamic identity draws Bangladesh into an alignment with Pakistan, dragging Bangladesh into Pakistan’s own conflict with India.
Yu, Xiaofeng, and Imran Ali Sandano
Abstract
The traditional hostility between India and Pakistan has created a complex situation in the region, and their traditional bilateral relations are ignoring and increasing the nontraditional security (NTS) threats like terrorism, religious extremism, drug trafficking, environmental issues, maritime piracy, natural disasters, energy and economic crises which need a different diplomatic approach. Traditionally, a country’s diplomatic principles and position were judged by its political wisdom and military prestige. However, nontraditional diplomatic approaches have opened a new debate in the diplomatic arena. This study coins a new notion of diplomacy, “Nontraditional Security Diplomacy.” It argues that NTS diplomacy is more productive to settle traditional and nontraditional security issues between both conflicting states. It also strives to clarify the relationship between India and Pakistan and their mutual NTS cooperation. This study has devised three key policy options: cooperative security, security co-governance and peaceful coexistence for security cooperation, while the means and methods represent the strategy of understanding NTS challenges and cooperation between both states. Therefore, the paper explores the relevant questions for their security cooperation. Resultantly, it maps out the need for collaboration in NTS areas and maneuvers for practical cooperation, which is favorable for the improvement of peaceful bilateral relations between the two countries.
