Speaking in Delhi in November 2016, Manohar Parrikar, India’s then Defence Minister, said there should be an element of unpredictability in the country’s military strategy. He wondered whether India’s nuclear doctrine should be constrained by a ‘no-first-use’ posture. The essence of the defence minister’s introspection was that ambiguity enhances deterrence. This view has been expressed by several nuclear strategists. Nuclear doctrines are not written in stone and are never absolutely rigid. They are not binding international treaties that must be adhered to in letter and spirit. Fifteen years have passed since India’s nuclear doctrine was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security in January 2003. A review of the nuclear doctrine is long overdue. Credible minimum deterrence and the posture of no-first-use have stood the test of time. But is there no conceivable operational contingency that justifies a first strike? Do we need a new nuclear policy for our new geopolitical reality? This book delves into the debate and charts out a way ahead.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gurmeet Kanwal
Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal, a former Senior Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi, commanded a field artillery regiment in counter-insurgency operations in the Kashmir Valley. He has served as Director MO-5 in the Directorate General of Military Operations at Army Headquarters, New Delhi, the Brigade Major of an infantry brigade, a United Nations Military Observer in UNTAG, Namibia, and as an Instructor-in-Gunnery at the School of Artillery, Devlali. He is a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, the Long Gunnery Staff Course and the Higher Command Course. Brigadier Kanwal has written several books. He edited the Artillery Journal for four years and was the editor of UNTAG Journal, Namibia, while serving as a UN military observer. He has been an honorary member of the Board of Editorial Consultants of Indian Defence Review, has written extensively on defence and national security issues for various national newspapers and military journals and writes a regular column for The Statesman. He has recently been nominated to take over command of an Infantry Brigade deployed on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
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