By Amit R. Saksena
Delays give the Modi government space to make needed reforms to India’s nuclear doctrine.
The latest reports on India’s first indigenously built nuclear submarine INSArihant suggest that the project only began sea trials last month. Successive trials over a nine-month period will give way to weapons testing on board the vessel, and the submarine will only be deployed for active patrol duty in 2016. The high-tech vesselproject has already been in R&D for well over two decades, having incurred exponential overrun costs and delayed delivery schedules.
This delay, however, could work in the favor of the government of Narendra Modi. Specifically, it could enable it to make much-needed reforms to India’s nuclear doctrine, to effectively accommodate the Arihant.
Given New Delhi’s uncertain mindset on nuclear deterrence, the Indian nuclear doctrine has not been touched since its hurried inception in 1998. Contextualizing the geo-political changes that have occurred in South Asia, and globally, this underscores the reluctance of Indian politicians – leery of being lumped together with Pakistan and North Korea – to come anywhere near the controversial issue. This is in contrast to the permanent members of the UN Security Council, for instance, all which have evolved their doctrines over an extended time period. In fact, for a nuclear power that is only 14 years old, New Delhi has certainly set a benchmark for political resistance on nuclear weapons. Modi will have to come to terms with this, and push for reform to the nuclear doctrine before India finally projects its nuclear prowess in the Indian Ocean region.
Read the full story at The Diplomat