Challenges of Nuclear Arms Control in South Asia

Contents: 1. Arms control. 2. The arms control challenge. 3. Nuclear arms race. 4. Arms trade: difficult to define, measure and control. 5. Prospects and challenges of nuclear arms control. 6. Arms production, exports and control. 7. The arms trade, debt and economic development. 8. Arms industry and its moderation. 9. Nuclear arms race and military development.

Arms control treaties and agreements are often seen as a way to avoid costly arms races which would prove counter productive to national aims and future peace. Some are used as ways to stop the spread of certain military technologies (such as nuclear weaponry or missile technology) in return for assurances to potential developers that they will not be victims of those technologies. The idea of nuclear arms control has hardly taken root in South Asia. The existing nuclear arms control measures between India and Pakistan are patently inadequate for addressing the pressing nuclear concerns of the region. Although there are compelling reasons for nuclear arms control, India and Pakistan are reluctant to undertake worthwhile arms control initiatives. The recent nuclear tests in South Asia have dealt a serious blow to international efforts to prevent the further spread of weapons of mass destruction. In declaring themselves nuclear-weapon states, India and Pakistan have openly challenged the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in which the international community agreed that there should be no more nuclear-weapon states. This book will be of immense help to all those contemplating to acquire expert knowledge of arms control and related subjects.