India Saturday unveiled its newly formalized command-and-control structure for its nuclear arsenal and restated its “no-first-use” nuclear weapons policy (see GSN, Dec. 31, 2002).

India’s nuclear weapons are now under the control of the two-layered Nuclear Command Authority, the Cabinet Committee on Security announced after meeting to review the readiness of India’s nuclear arsenal.  The NCA is made up of a political council and an executive council, according to The Hindu.  The political council, headed by the prime minister, has the sole authority to order use of nuclear weapons, the security committee said.  The executive council, headed by the national security adviser, participates in the NCA’s decision-making process and carries out the orders of the political council, the security committee said (C. Raja Mohan, The Hindu, Jan. 5).

The security committee also approved the creation of a commander in chief for India’s strategic forces.  Indian Air Marshall T.M. Asthana is expected to be appointed to the position, the Times of India reported (Rajat Pandit, Times of India, Jan. 4).

India has worked since 1998 to establish a formal nuclear command-and-control structure and its creation demonstrates that India is a responsible nuclear power, defense analysts said.

“When you join the nuclear club, these are the rules of the game,” said Aswini Ray of the Center for Political Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.  “This is about assuring the international community that India is behaving in a responsible fashion,” Ray added (Edna Fernandes, Financial Times, Jan. 6).

The formalized nuclear command structure will also help to reduce the risk of an accidental weapons launch, weapons specialists said.

“Until now, India’s nuclear weapons doctrine was seen as more of a draft.  There was an ambivalence, and the announcement removes that,” said Uday Bhaskar, deputy director of the Institute of Defense Studies and Analysis.  “It enhances regional stability and sends a positive signal,” Bhaskar added (Unni Krishnan, Reuters/Washington Times, Jan. 5).

Nuclear Doctrine

In its announcement, the security committee also reaffirmed several aspects of India’s nuclear weapons policy, including pledges not to be the first to use nuclear weapons, not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states and to limit India’s nuclear capability to a “credible minimum deterrent” (see GSN, Dec. 19, 2002).

While India has decided to maintain its no-first-use policy, its retaliation to a nuclear attack would be “massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage,” the committee warned (Mohan, The Hindu).

India also retains the right to respond to a biological or chemical weapons attack against its troops with nuclear weapons, even if the attacker does not possess nuclear weapons itself, the committee said. 

“In the event of a major attack against India, or Indian forces anywhere, by biological or chemical weapons, India will retain the option of retaliating with nuclear weapons,” the committee said (Pandit, Times of India).

For further information, see:

Indian Government

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