Nuclear Weapons and India\'s National Security

Contents: 1. India\'s nuclear policy and the CTBT/P.K. Iyengar. 2. India\'s nuclear deterrence/M.S. Ramakumar. 3. India\'s nuclear weapons capability: convincing or confusing?/Ashok Kapur. 4. India\'s nuclear tests of 1998 and beyond/Shrikant Paranjpe. 5. National objective: India as a major power/P.M. Kamath. 6. India\'s nuclear options/Sujit Dutta. 7. The role of nuclear weapons/Savita Pande. 8. CTBT in the context of India\'s nuclear weapons policy/A.N. Prasad. 9. Need of the day--a national objective/P.K. Pahwa. 10. National security policy and development of nuclear forces/Hriday Kaul. 11. Nuclear weapons and India\'s security/K.S. Pendse. 12. India\'s posture/Bharat Karnard. 13. The post-Pokhran II challenges/Raja Menon. 14. The question of credibility/Vishnu Bhagwat. 15. Nuclear weapons and nuclear weapon states/Arundhati Ghosh. 16. Nuclear weapons and India\'s foreign policy/K.K. Nayyar. 17. Achievements and challenges/V.R. Raghavan. 18. Nuclear weapons and India\'s national security: search for a paradigm/Dilip Mohite. 19. India\'s national policy-aims and objectives/V.K. Madhok. 20. Nuclear capability and social security/Shanta Verma. Appendices.

"A workshop organized by the Indian Council of Social Science Research in June 2000 provided an opportunity for an intense and open exchange of views among leading scholars, policy makers and nuclear scientists on fundamental trends that are shaping the nuclear challenges facing India. The goal, of the workshop was to strengthen the basis for a continued and informed nationwide discussion of nuclear policy choices.

"A wide range of subjects from fundamentalism and terrorism to regional and international security, China\'s contribution to nuclear and missile proliferation, and bargaining asymmetries between India and China absorbed the attention of the workshop. The pivotal role of professional planning staffs to avoid the dangers of fragmented thinking was emphasized." (jacket)

[M.L. Sondhi is Chairman Indian Council of Social Science Research.]