Here's a look at the nuclear capabilities of India and Pakistan
NEW DELHI - This week’s conflict between India and Pakistan, which involved air strikes in each other’s territories for the first time by the two nuclear-armed nations, has sparked fears of a nuclear confrontation.
They are comparable in the sense that both have the capability to strike each other’s territories and cause immense damage and massive loss of life. Pakistan has not stated a “no first use” policy and there is little known about its nuclear doctrine. However, if faced with the threat of a nuclear attack, India could strike first. “You can always come back later and say ‘we had been provoked to this point’,” said Pervez Hoodbhoy, a prominent nuclear physicist based in Islamabad.India is believed to have sought nuclear capabilities after its defeat in a brief 1962 border war with China.
Since then, the countries have engaged in an arms race that has outpaced traditional nuclear rivals. “I don’t think we see the level of tit-for-tat development between the U.S. and Russia that we do in the India and Pakistan programs,” said Liu.India in recent years has developed solid fuel missiles in canisters that require warheads to be already fitted onto the missiles, increasing the turnaround time of the weapon. Previously, it said it kept warheads separate from missiles.
“India tries to be very, very careful and very, very secretive about the role of its nuclear weapons because making them public does not benefit the kind of status it seeks in the world community,” Panda said.The risk of rogue elements gaining control of nuclear weapons is higher in Pakistan, home to several militant groups, including some that have attacked its military facilities.
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