Pakistan announced a successful test of its state-of-the-art Babur-III on March 29, 2018, which is a submarine-launched, nuclear-capable cruise missile. Islamabad is actively seeking to maintain a credible deterrence against its regional nemesis India and does not want to rely on any foreign nation for this task. If Pakistan didn’t have nuclear weapons the map of Pakistan would have been different in a number of ways. The Indian fanatics still doesn’t accept the partition of India and want to take back Pakistan and realize their aspirations of Greater Hindustan.
With the growing conventional arms imbalance with India, Pakistan’s security is now critically dependent on nuclear deterrence. This is the crucial reason Pakistan wants a credible deterrent. India is a huge country as compared to Pakistan hence Pakistan needs an adequate and reliable stockpile of nuclear weapons to deter its conventional adversary.
It’s not the first time that Pakistan has tested this capability, Pakistan already had such capability even before India. Pakistan can launch its nuclear missiles from torpedo tube that makes every submarine in our arsenal a capable second strike asset, however, India can launch Bramos from verticle launchers in only one of its nuclear submarine which was modified for such purposes. As a result of constant improvement in its nuclear credentials, Pakistan has emerged as a responsible nuclear weapons state.
Pakistan has been pursuing a Credible Minimum Deterrence (CMD) doctrine to deter India’s growing conventional and nuclear capabilities. However, time and again, Pakistan has faced criticism and propaganda over nuclear safety and security, and necessary technological advancements in its nuclear weapons complex.
Pakistan continues to strengthen and expand its nuclear capabilities, diversifying weapons, fielding new delivery vehicles and accumulating fissile material. Pakistan can effectively tackle a nuclear threat from India when necessary but one must understand that Pakistani tactical nuclear bombs. Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities are traditionally viewed as the capacity to deter India. Be it the medium-long range nuclear missile or tactical nukes like Nasr III, Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal are to address Indian nuclear threat
If we analyze the facts on the ground; India initiated the past three wars with Pakistan, but once Pakistan had the nuclear bombs India can only threaten Pakistan, not start another war of attrition. Sure, India also possesses nuclear weapons, in addition to superior conventional armed forces, but if ever India tried to engineer another war with Pakistan, it’s going to be MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction) that really deterred India’s territorial ambition in Pakistan / Kashmir.
India is not exactly a friend to all her smaller neighbors like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar. In fact, India is a certifiable regional tormenter in her own rights but is tolerated by the USA and western countries because of India’s status as a friend of the west. But if ever India dared to turn against the west, India would surely end up like Iraq, a failed state, broken into various political entities.
Both Pakistan and India have nuclear capabilities, war is not an option. Because when two nuclear powers will have war, both will equally destroy. Everyone knows a nuclear war is unwinnable; it can only cause mutual annihilation and an unspeakable amount of collateral damage no less than a global apocalypse. Humanity’s suicidal faith in wars and nuclear weapons is ample evidence that we are far from a true civilization.
