Global Security Newswire

India announced Friday it would have nuclear weapons deployed on land-, air-, and sea-based launch platforms in the near future, the Hindustan Times reported (see GSN, Oct. 26).

India's army, navy and air force would each operate self-contained mechanisms for firing nuclear-tipped missiles, Indian Atomic Energy Commission head Srikumar Banerjee said.

"Our strategic program will be further strengthened to assure minimum credible [deterrence] -- our triad of the delivery system will be fully functional," the official said.

Banerjee's statement marked New Delhi's first formal acknowledgment of its nuclear deterrent plans since restrictions on nuclear sales to the country were eliminated in 2008, according to the Times (see GSN, Sept. 8, 2008). New Delhi announced plans after its May 1998 nuclear tests to equip its three armed services with nuclear weapons.

India also intends to field a range of detection devices at airports, seaports and border crossings in a bid to prevent illicit nuclear transfers, Banerjee added.

Meanwhile, "electromagnetic and high-power microwave devices will be deployed in our missile defense system" to improve interceptor accuracy, he said (Snehal Rebello, Hindustan Times, Oct. 31).