Introduction to Indian Nuclear History & Policy

India was one of the first few countries in the world to obtain nuclear technology, but the literature on the country's nuclear policy and history is frequently fragmented and unrelated. This chapter offers a concise, integrated overview of India's nuclear trajectory. Focusing on the Indian strategic perspective of international affairs, it details the structural imperatives behind India's transition from peaceful nuclear research to overt weaponisation (Pokhran-I and Pokhran-II), explains the civilian-led command architecture and the operational elements of India's nuclear doctrine—including Credible Minimum Deterrence (CMD), No First Use (NFU), and Massive Unacceptable Damage (MUD)—and evaluates India's enduring advocacy for universal, non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament.

• Section 01 pp. 114–116

  Early Foundations & Operation Smiling Buddha (1974)

  Traces the origins of Indian nuclear research under Homi Bhabha at TIFR and the Atomic Energy Commission (1948), moving from civilian exploration to strategic deterrence following the 1962 Sino-Indian War, China's 1964 Lop Nur test, gunboat diplomacy during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War (USS Enterprise), and the discriminatory NPT 'nuclear apartheid', culminating in Operation Smiling Buddha at Pokhran in May 1974.

• Section 02 pp. 117–118

  Operation Shakti & The Road to Pokhran-II (1998)

  Analyzes the geopolitical pressures compelling overt weaponisation: Sino-Pakistani nuclear and missile proliferation (M-9 and M-11), post-Cold War loss of Soviet security guarantees, the indefinite extension of the NPT, and coercive CTBT deadlines, leading to the underground tests of May 11–13, 1998 under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

• Section 03 pp. 118–120

  Military Doctrine: Deterrence, NFU & Command Structure

  Examines the 1999 draft and 2003 operationalized Nuclear Doctrine, unpacking Credible Minimum Deterrence (CMD), the No First Use (NFU) pledge with retaliatory caveats for chemical/biological attacks, Massive Unacceptable Damage (MUD), and the two-tier Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) comprising the Political Council headed by the Prime Minister and the Executive Council headed by the NSA.

• Section 04 pp. 120–123

  Global Disarmament Diplomacy & The Realist-Constructivist Synthesis

  Documents India's historic leadership in universal, non-discriminatory disarmament (1954 testing ban, 1988 Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan), its post-1998 bilateral integration through the Indo-US Civil Nuclear Agreement and NSG waiver, concluding that Indian nuclear policy represents a realist tree of national survival blossoming with constructivist normative aspirations.

Bhardwaj, K. (2023). Introduction to Indian Nuclear History & Policy. In M. Bansal (Ed.), Basic Concepts of India’s Foreign Policy: Perspectives and Dynamics in the 21st Century (pp. 114–123). Walnut Publication.

@incollection{bhardwaj2023nuclearpolicy,
  title={Introduction to Indian Nuclear History \& Policy},
  author={Bhardwaj, Keshav},
  booktitle={Basic Concepts of India's Foreign Policy: Perspectives and Dynamics in the 21st Century},
  editor={Bansal, Meenakshi},
  pages={114--123},
  publisher={Walnut Publication},
  year={2023},
  month={dec},
  isbn={978-93-5911-369-2},
  url={https://www.walnutpublication.com/book/9789359113692/}
}