Indo-Pakistani nuclear relations

Can the genie be put back into the bottle?

Carranza, Mario E.

Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX, USA

Address for correspondence: Mario E. Carranza, Department of Political Science, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Campus Box 165, Kingsville, TX 78363, USA. Phone: (361) 593-3490; Fax: (361) 593-3502; E-mail: [email protected]

International Politics 36(4):p 441-463, December 1999.

Why did India believe it necessary to test nuclear weapons, thus abandoning twenty-four years of nuclear restraint? Why did Pakistan make the decision to “even the score” with India, in spite of Western economic sanctions? This article explores the motivations behind India's and Pakistan's nuclear tests of 1998, and considers the impact on Indo-Pakistani strategic interactions and on US non- proliferation policy towards South Asia. The author argues that the tests have brought both regional rivals closer to the precipice of nuclear war, and that their mutual survival should not be trusted to a strategy of nuclear deterrence. The author concludes that strengthening democracy in both countries will be crucial to broadening the domestic nuclear debate, a step necessary for creating domestic political coalitions in favor of denuclearization.