Thinking the unthinkable!

Preparing for Armageddon in South Asia

News p 1412

The unthinkable has actually happened. Over a span of barely four years, the subcontinent and its military and political leadership seem to have moved seamlessly from an obtuse nuclear capability and a doctrine of nuclear deterrence to the present state of nuclear weaponisation.1 As a million soldiers face each other across the volatile line of control and the border between India and Pakistan, the arguments have shifted from no use of nuclear weapons to their potential use in the event of conventional war, to the current state of actual deployment. To a large extent the numerical superiority of the Indian army and air force translates into a no win situation for Pakistan in the event of a conventional conflict. Faced with the potential of humiliation and dismemberment in such a scenario, a nuclear first strike becomes a frighteningly real possibility.2

The debate and outcry on this reckless brinkmanship in South Asia has remained confined to the peace groups, and the vernacular press has largely been jingoistic and indifferent to the disastrous consequences of nuclear war. While …