A Missile Stability Regime for South Asia
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Authors
Khan, Feroz Hassan
Rajen, Gaurav
Vannoni, Michael
Subjects
Advisors
Date of Issue
2004-06
Date
June 2004
Publisher
Cooperative Monitoring Center (CMC)
Language
Abstract
India and Pakistan have created sizeable ballistic missile forces and are continuing to developand enlarge them. These forces can be both stabilizing (e.g., providing a survivable force for deterrence) and destabilizing (e.g., creating strategic asymmetries). Missile forces will be a factor in bilateral relations for the foreseeable future, so restraint is necessary to curtail their destabilizing effects. Such restraint, however, must develop within an atmosphere of low trust. This report presents a set of political and operational options, both unilateral and bilateral,that decreases tensions, helps rebuild the bilateral relationship, and prepares the ground for future steps in structural arms control. Significant steps, which build on precedents and do not require extensive cooperation, are possible despite strained relations. The approach is made up of three distinct phases: 1) tension reduction measures, 2) confidence building measures, and 3) arms control agreements. The goal of the first phase is to initiate unilateral stepsthat are substantive and decrease tensions, establish missiles as a security topic for bilateral discussion, and set precedents for limited bilateral cooperation. The second phase would build confidence by expanding current bilateral security agreements, formalizing bilateral understandings, and beginning discussion of monitoring procedures. The third phase could include bilateral agreements limiting some characteristics of national missile forces including the cooperative incorporation of monitoring and verification.
Type
Report
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Organization
Sandia National Laboratories
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
44 p.
Citation
Khan, Feroz Hassan, Michael Geoffrey Vannoni, and Gaurav Rajen. CMC occasional papers: a missile stability regime for South Asia. No. SAND2004-2832. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States), 2004.
Distribution Statement
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.