India and Nuclear Asia

India's nuclear profile, doctrine, and practices have evolved rapidly since the country’s nuclear breakout in 1998. However, the outside world's understanding of India's doctrinal debates, forward-looking strategy, and technical developments are still two decades behind the present. India and Nuclear Asia will fill that gap in our knowledge by focusing on the post-1998 evolution of Indian nuclear thought, its arsenal, the triangular rivalry with Pakistan and China, and New Delhi's nonproliferation policy approaches. Yogesh Joshi and Frank O'Donnell show how India's nuclear trajectory has evolved in response to domestic, regional, and global drivers. The authors argue that emerging trends in all three states are elevating risks of regional inadvertent and accidental escalation. These include the forthcoming launch of naval nuclear forces within an environment of contested maritime boundaries; the growing employment of dual-use delivery vehicles; and the emerging preferences of all three states to employ missiles early in a conflict. These dangers are amplified by the near-absence of substantive nuclear dialogue between these states, and the growing ambiguity of regional strategic intentions.  Based on primary-source research and interviews, this book will be important reading for scholars and students of nuclear deterrence and India's international relations, as well as for military, defense contractor, and policy audiences both within and outside South Asia.

[Authors] have pulled together the best summaries of interconnecting Indian, Pakistani and Chinese nuclear capabilities one can glean from public sources, and have derived thoughtful lines of analysis from them., One of the few books which examining in detail the India -Pakistan -China nuclear trilateral in a holistic fashion. . . . The book will sharpen the ongoingdebate on India’s nuclear doctrine., Overall, the book is an excellent work which will be of interest to all readers wishing to deepen their understanding of the dynamics of the ongoing Second Nuclear Age.

Yogesh Joshi is a MacArthur Nuclear Security Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University and is coauthor of The US Pivot and Indian Foreign Policy. Frank O'Donnell is a Stanton Junior Faculty Fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and a nonresident fellow in the Stimson Center’s South Asia Program. He is the coauthor of India’s Evolving Nuclear Force and Implications for US Strategy in the Asia-Pacific.