At a time when India was witnessing Chinese troops’ incursion through the border and the nation’s capability over deterrence relation is being questioned, an expert in international politics on Saturday observed that India’s deterrent force was still “insufficient”.
“India’s nuclear forces are ground-based and there is a need to improve air and submarine-based deterrent forces,” according to Prof Rajesh Rajagopalan, of Centre for International Politics, Organisation and Disarmament, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Prof Rajagopalan, who is in Chennai to participate in a panel discussion on ‘China-India Deterrence Relations’ organised by the US Consulate General, clarified: “Though China has not always been India’s primary focus for deterrence, India’s deterrence force lacks capability while dealing with China.”
Speaking to Express, Prof Rajagopalan said, “China’s Tactical Nukes, lack of transparency and lack of interest to engage itself in a nuclear dialogue with the US and India are key concerns in deterrence relationship. But in general, the deterrence relation between the two countries appears fairly stable compared to Indo-Pak deterrence relation. In spite of that, we also require to have adequate second-strike forces to strengthen our deterrent forces.”