Assessing India's nuclear weapons posture: the end of ambiguity?
Loading...
Authors
Davies, Scott D.
Subjects
Advisors
Lavoy, Peter
Date of Issue
1996-12
Date
December, 1996
Publisher
Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School
Language
en_US
Abstract
This thesis examines the future of India's nuclear weapons posture. Since testing a nuclear device in 1974, India been able to produce weapons material within its civilian nuclear power program. Despite having this nuclear weapons capability, India prefers to maintain an ambiguous nuclear posture. New pressures in the post-cold war era -- the loss of the Soviet Union as a strategic ally, the indefinite extension of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, the rise of Hindu nationalism, and India's growing participation in the global economy -- have the potential to derail India's current nuclear policy. This thesis identifies the domestic and international pressures on India, and assesses the prospects for India to retain its ambiguous policy, renounce the nuclear option, or assemble an overt nuclear arsenal.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Organization
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
xviii, 91 p.
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.