Reasons for becoming nuclear:
India shares hostile relations with its two immediate neighbours – China and Pakistan. There was a direct threat to India’s national security as China was already a nuclear state and had a war with India in 1962. Both the countries do not share very cordial relations with each other.
Pakistan was also preparing to become nuclear with the help of Chinese government. So in order to preserve its national security, it was equally important for India to become a nuclear state.
Features of India’s nuclear policy:
- India believes in both horizontal and vertical nuclear disarmament. It is ready to disarm its nuclear weapons if all other counties of the world possessing nuclear weapons also disarm their nuclear weapons.
- India has committed that it will never initiate a nuclear war against any country and will use nuclear weapons only for defensive purpose.
- It will try to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and would possess only minimum nuclear deterrence.
- India strongly opposes NPT and CTBT treaties as they were seen unjust and discriminatory.
- It reiterates India’s commitment to global, verifiable and nondiscriminatory nuclear disarmament leading to a nuclear weapon free world.
