By Sara Nazir

Pakistan and India have a long and troubled history of outstanding disputes that have led to a number of wars and hostilities between the two countries. Both states, armed with nuclear weapons continue to build their conventional and nuclear capabilities to address their respective insecurities. The Pakistani nation commemorates 28 May as Youm-e-Takbeer, the day when Pakistan’s Minimum Credible Deterrence was firmly establishedwhich finally declared its defense invincible. By testing the bomb, Pakistan rendered full-scale war with India redundant.

On 18 May 1974, India tested its first nuclear bomb in an operation-code named, “Pokhran-I”. Pakistan was left with no option but to develop its own nuclear deterrent to keep in check a belligerent nuclear-armed India. In 1965 Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto insisted by saying, “If India developed an atomic bomb, we too will develop one even if we have to eat grass or leaves or remain hungry because there is no conventional alternative to the atomic bomb.”

India’s ambition to assert regional domination created a security dilemma for Pakistan when India again tested five nuclear bombs in Operation Shakti (Pokhran-II) on May 11, 1998. Pakistan left with no other choice, as a sovereign nation committed to national security preservation, had conducted five successful nuclear tests in the north-western Chaghi district of Balochistan in response to continued aggressive posturing by India. Consequently, on May 28, 1998 Pakistan became the first nuclear power in the Islamic world and seventh in the world after the USA, Russia, Britain, France, China and India. The day marks the historic milestone of Pakistan’s successful and calculated response to counter India’s aggression as it established minimum credible deterrence to ensure regional stability.

As per the logic of international defense and strategic discourse, states build nuclear weapons to enhance their national security against foreign threats. The broadened scope of security at the national level aims to ensure political independence and is considered as a primary guiding factor that directs proliferation or nonproliferation priorities of individual states. The South Asian proliferation puzzle is also an outcome of a similar security dilemma that cannot be escaped. The neo-realist theory provides a better understanding of the nuclear aspirations of most states because states exist in an anarchical international system and must therefore rely on self-help to protect their sovereignty and national security.Both India and Pakistan assert that security concerns were the driving force behind the development of their nuclear weapons programs, but it is possible that other factors, such as "prestige" and "domestic politics," played a role as well. It might be helpful to understand the primary forces that propelled India and Pakistan to start their different nuclear journeys by providing a quick outline of their respective nuclear histories.

Proliferation history reveals that all nuclear states have justified their NWs citing security as primary factors. Pakistan and Israel are the only two states that have deployed nuclear capabilities due to existential threats. Whereas, a brief history of Indian NWs suggests that the Indian NW program was driven majorly by “Prestige” or “International Norms” because India wanted to emerge as a global power.During 1990s, I.K. Gujral (Famous politician and ambassador who also served as Prime Minister from 1997 to 1998) stated, “I have a third eye that can see into the doors of United Nations Security Council (UNSC), only with wealth and nuclear weapons can be a major power”, depicts the International Norms as the main cause of India NW program. Domestic politics also played a significant role but security seems last and less important due to the absence of existential threat. One can say that the Indian NW program was multi-casulauitiy in which more than one factor was the driver of its Nuclear ambition.

Pakistan’s nuclear capability has played a critical role in establishing the balance of power in South Asia besides providing the country with a strategic advantage. In terms of the threat of a nuclear escalation, Pakistan has always acted sensibly and proportionally while avoidingan arms race in the region, despite India’s mad rush for defense acquisition. Pakistan has a very robust command and control system that prevents any accidental use. Not a single nuclear radiation accident has occurred in the country’s nuclear history with its reactors under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s safeguards. Pakistan’s pursuit of peaceful energy also met splendid success. Pakistan has established a comprehensive and effective national nuclear security regime that is at par with international standards and guidelines. In the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) 2020, Pakistan's credentials as a responsible nuclear state are well established.

Pakistan’s nuclear capability is not only a guarantor of peace and stability in the region but has also contributed to the energy sector to uplift the socio-economic of the country. Pakistan has a remarkable experience in safe and secure operations of nuclear power plants having the expertise and the ability to supply items. To prevent South Asia from a nuclear arms race, Pakistan has put forward various proposals to India over the years: First, in 1974 to declare South Asia as a "nuclear-weapon-free zone"; Second, post-1998 proposal to establish a "Pakistan-India strategic restraint regime". Unfortunately, India has consistently rejected them and India's unwelcoming attitude has left Pakistan with limited options.

India’s irresponsible nuclear conduct, on the other hand, has always remained talk of the town. Recently, seizure of more than 7kg of natural uranium from unauthorized persons in India highlights the poor state of India's nuclear safety and security. The very fact that some people stole or illegally mined uranium raises serious concerns about nuclear safety and security in India and Indicates the possibility of a nuclear black- market existing in India that could be connected to international players. More worrying is the fact that the Indian nuclear arsenal is in the hands of an irresponsible extremist BJP government. Moreover, India has been a customer in the nuclear black market. India's hegemonic and nefarious designs, massive defense procurement operations, irresponsible nuclear safety procedures, belligerent policies, and the 2019 incident, when the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) experienced a cyberattack due to the plant's lack of awareness about its weaknesses,corroborate that it is not a responsible nuclear country.

Since the saffronisation of the Indian polity has endangered regional peace, the world community must play its role in resolving the Kashmir issue to reduce the chances of escalation between India and Pakistan. Continuity of hostilities over Kashmir under nuclear overhang will have unintended consequences for the whole region. In post-Pulwama environment, the world needs to wake up to the horrible reality that India's nuclear stockpile is presently in the hands of Hindu fanatics who are imbued with expansionist Hindutva doctrine. The rogue nuclear state of India remains a looming threat to regional as well as global peace and stability.