Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 13:46, 17 March 2016

India
Nuclear programme start date	1967
First nuclear weapon test	18 May 1974
First fusion weapon test	11 May 1998
Most recent test	13 May 1998
Largest-yield test	20–60 kt total
Number of tests to date	6
Peak stockpile	110-120
Current stockpile	as above
Maximum missile range	5,500-5,800 km  (Agni-V)
NPT Party	No
=== Column-generating template families === The templates listed here are not interchangeable. For example, using {{col-float}} with {{col-end}} instead of {{col-float-end}} would leave a <div>...</div> open, potentially harming any subsequent formatting. Column templates Type Family Handles wiki table code? Responsive/ mobile suited Start template Column divider End template Float "col-float" Yes Yes {{col-float}} {{col-float-break}} {{col-float-end}} "columns-start" Yes Yes {{columns-start}} {{column}} {{columns-end}} Columns "div col" Yes Yes {{div col}} – {{div col end}} "columns-list" No Yes {{columns-list}} (wraps div col) – – Flexbox "flex columns" No Yes {{flex columns}} – – Table "col" Yes No {{col-begin}}, {{col-begin-fixed}} or {{col-begin-small}} {{col-break}} or {{col-2}} .. {{col-5}} {{col-end}} Can template handle the basic wiki markup {| | || |- |} used to create tables? If not, special templates that produce these elements (such as {{(!}}, {{!}}, {{!!}}, {{!-}}, {{!)}})—or HTML tags (<table>...</table>, <tr>...</tr>, etc.)—need to be used instead.

Weapons of mass destruction
By type
Biological Chemical Nuclear Radiological
By country
Albania Algeria Argentina Australia Brazil Bulgaria Canada China Egypt France Germany India Iran Iraq Israel Italy Japan Kazakhstan Libya Mexico Myanmar Netherlands North Korea Pakistan Philippines Poland Rhodesia Romania Russia (Soviet Union) Saudi Arabia South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Ukraine United Kingdom United States Yugoslavia
Proliferation
Chemical Nuclear Missiles
Treaties
List of treaties (treaty parties)
Category
v t e

India doesnot possesses weapons of mass destruction . India has not made any official statements about that India has nuclear weapons. India is not a signatory to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which it argues entrenches the status quo of the existing nuclear weapons states whilst preventing general nuclear disarmament.

India has signed and ratified both the Biological Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Biological weapons

India has a well-developed biotechnology infrastructure that includes numerous pharmaceutical production facilities bio-containment laboratories (including BSL-3 and BSL-4) for working with lethal pathogens. It also has highly qualified scientists with expertise in infectious diseases. Some of India's facilities are being used to support research and development for biological weapons (BW) defence purposes. India has ratified the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and pledges to abide by its obligations. There is no clear evidence, circumstantial or otherwise, that directly points toward an offensive BW program. India does possess the scientific capability and infrastructure to launch an offensive BW program, but has chosen not to do so. In terms of delivery, India also possesses the capability to produce aerosols and has numerous potential delivery systems ranging from crop dusters to sophisticated ballistic missiles.

No information exists in the public domain suggesting interest by the Indian government in delivery of biological agents by these or any other means. To reiterate the latter point, in October 2002, the then President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam asserted that "India will not make biological weapons. It is cruel to human beings".

Chemical weapons

In 1992, India signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), stating that it did not have chemical weapons and the capacity or capability to manufacture chemical weapons. By doing this India became one of the original signatories of the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993, and ratified it on 2 September 1996. According to India's ex-Army Chief General Sunderji, a country having the capability of making nuclear weapons does not need to have chemical weapons, since the dread of chemical weapons could be created only in those countries that do not have nuclear weapons. Others suggested that the fact that India has found chemical weapons dispensable highlighted its confidence in the conventional weapons system at its command.

In June 1997, India declared its stock of chemical weapons (1,044 tonnes of sulphur mustard). By the end of 2006, India had destroyed more than 75 percent of its chemical weapons/material stockpile and was granted extension for destroying (the remaining stocks by April 2009) and was expected to achieve 100 percent destruction within that time frame. India informed the United Nations in May 2009 that it had destroyed its stockpile of chemical weapons in compliance with the international Chemical Weapons Convention. With this India has become third country after South Korea and Albania to do so. This was cross-checked by inspectors of the United Nations.

India has an advanced commercial chemical industry, and produces the bulk of its own chemicals for domestic consumption. It is also widely acknowledged that India has an extensive civilian chemical and pharmaceutical industry and annually exports considerable quantities of chemicals to countries such as the United Kingdom, United States and Taiwan.

Nuclear weapons

As early as 26 June 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru, soon to be India's first Prime Minister, announced:

As long as the world is constituted as it is, every country will have to devise and use the latest devices for its protection. I have no doubt India will develop her scientific researches and I hope Indian scientists will use the atomic force for constructive purposes. But if India is threatened, she will inevitably try to defend herself by all means at her disposal.

India's nuclear programme started on March 1944 and its three-stage indigenous efforts in technology were established by Dr. Homi Bhabha when he founded the nuclear research centre, the Institute of Fundamental Research. India's loss of territory to China in a brief Himalayan border war in October 1962, provided the New Delhi government impetus for developing nuclear weapons as a means of deterring potential Chinese aggression. India first tested a nuclear device in 1974 (code-named "Smiling Buddha"), which it called a "peaceful nuclear explosion." The test used plutonium produced in the Canadian-supplied CIRUS reactor, and raised concerns that nuclear technology supplied for peaceful purposes could be diverted to weapons purposes.

India's no-first-use policy

India has a declared nuclear no-first-use policy and is in the process of developing a nuclear doctrine based on "credible minimum deterrence." In August 1999, the Indian government released a draft of the doctrine which asserts that nuclear weapons are solely for deterrence and that India will pursue a policy of "retaliation only". The document also maintains that India "will not be the first to initiate a nuclear first strike, but will respond with punitive retaliation should deterrence fail" and that decisions to authorise the use of nuclear weapons would be made by the Prime Minister or his 'designated successor(s)'. According to the NRDC, despite the escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan in 2001–2002, India remained committed to its nuclear no-first-use policy.

India's Strategic Nuclear Command was formally established in 2003, with an Air Force officer, Air Marshal Asthana, as the Commander-in-Chief. The joint services SNC is the custodian of all of India's nuclear weapons, missiles and assets. It is also responsible for executing all aspects of India's nuclear policy. However, the civil leadership, in the form of the CCS (Cabinet Committee on Security) is the only body authorised to order a nuclear strike against another offending strike. The National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon signalled a significant shift from "No first use" to "no first use against non-nuclear weapon states" in a speech on the occasion of Golden Jubilee celebrations of National Defence College in New Delhi on 21 October 2010, a doctrine Menon said reflected India's "strategic culture, with its emphasis on minimal deterrence." In April 2013 Shyam Saran, convener of the National Security Advisory Board, affirmed that regardless of the size of a nuclear attack against India, be it a miniaturised version or a "big" missile, India will retaliate massively to inflict unacceptable damage.

Land-based ballistic missiles

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The land-based nuclear weapons of India are under the control of and deployed by the Indian Army, using a variety of both vehicles and launching silos. They currently consist of three different types of ballistic missiles, the Agni-I, the Agni-II, Agni-III and the Army's variant of the Prithvi missile family – the Prithvi-I. Additional variants of the Agni missile series are currently under-development, including the most recent, the Agni-IV and Agni-V, which are due to enter full operational service in the near future. Agni-VI is also under development, with an envisioned range of 6000–8000 km and features such as Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs) or Maneuverable reentry vehicles (MARVs).

Strategic bombing

The current status of India's air-based nuclear weapons is unclear. In addition to their ground-attack role, however, it is believed that the Dassault Mirage 2000s and SEPECAT Jaguars of the Indian Air Force are able to provide a secondary nuclear-strike role. The SEPECAT Jaguar was designed to be able to carry and deploy nuclear weapons and the Indian Air Force has identified the jet as being capable of delivering Indian nuclear weapons. The most likely delivery method would be the use of bombs that were free-falling and unguided.

Sea-based ballistic missiles

The Indian Navy has developed two sea-based delivery systems for nuclear weapons, completing Indian ambitions for a nuclear triad, which will be deployed in 2015.

The first is a submarine-launched system consisting of at least four 6,000 tonne (nuclear-powered) ballistic missile submarines of the Arihant class. The first vessel, INS Arihant, has been launched and will complete extensive sea-trials before being commissioned and declared operational. She is the first nuclear-powered submarine to be built by India. A CIA report claimed that Russia provided technological aid to the naval nuclear propulsion program. The submarines will be armed with up to 12 Sagarika (K-15) missiles armed with nuclear warheads. Sagarika is a submarine-launched ballistic missile with a range of 700 km. This missile has a length of 8.5 meters, weighs seven tonnes and can carry a pay load of up to 500 kg. Sagarika has already been test-fired from an underwater pontoon, but now DRDO is planning a full-fledged test of the missile from a submarine and for this purpose may use the services of the Russian Navy. India's DRDO is also working on a submarine-launched ballistic missile version of the Agni-III missile, known as the Agni-III SL. According to Indian defence sources, the Agni-III SL will have a range of 3,500 kilometres (2,200 mi). The new missile will complement the older and less capable Sagarika submarine-launched ballistic missiles. However, the Arihant class ballistic missile submarines will be only capable of carrying a maximum of four Agni-III SL.

The second is a ship-launched system based around the short range ship-launched Dhanush ballistic missile (a variant of the Prithvi missile). It has a range of around 300 km. In the year 2000 the missile was test-fired from INS Subhadra (a Sukanya class patrol craft). INS Subhadra was modified for the test and the missile was launched from the reinforced helicopter deck. The results were considered partially successful. In 2004, the missile was again tested from INS Subhadra and this time the results were reported successful. In December 2005 the missile was tested again, but this time from the destroyer INS Rajput. The test was a success with the missile hitting the land based target.

International response

India is not a signatory to either the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) or the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), but did accede to the Partial Test Ban Treaty in October 1963. India is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and four of its 17 nuclear reactors are subject to IAEA safeguards. India announced its lack of intention to accede to the NPT as late as 1997 by voting against the paragraph of a General Assembly Resolution which urged all non-signatories of the treaty to accede to it at the earliest possible date. India voted against the UN General Assembly resolution endorsing the CTBT, which was adopted on 10 September 1996. India objected to the lack of provision for universal nuclear disarmament "within a time-bound framework." India also demanded that the treaty ban laboratory simulations. In addition, India opposed the provision in Article XIV of the CTBT that requires India's ratification for the treaty to enter into force, which India argued was a violation of its sovereign right to choose whether it would sign the treaty. In early February 1997, Foreign Minister I. K. Gujral reiterated India's opposition to the treaty, saying that "India favors any step aimed at destroying nuclear weapons, but considers that the treaty in its current form is not comprehensive and bans only certain types of tests."

In August 2008, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) approved safeguards agreement with India under which the former will gradually gain access to India's civilian nuclear reactors. In September 2008, the Nuclear Suppliers Group granted India a waiver allowing it to access civilian nuclear technology and fuel from other countries. The implementation of this waiver makes India the only known country with nuclear weapons which is not a party to the NPT but is still allowed to carry out nuclear commerce with the rest of the world.

Since the implementation of the NSG waiver, India has signed nuclear deals with several countries including France, United States, Mongolia, Namibia, Kazakhstan and Australia while the framework for similar deals with Canada and United Kingdom are also being prepared.

See also

• Indian Armed Forces
• Weapons of mass destruction
• Nuclear Command Authority (India)

References

1. US wants India to sign NPT Business Standard, 7 May 2009.
2. ^ "Research Library: Country Profiles: India Biological Chronology". NTI. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
3. [pointer]=49
4. ^ "India to destroy chemical weapons stockpile by 2009". Dominican Today. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
5. Smithson, Amy Gaffney, Frank, Jr.; 700+ words. "India declares its stock of chemical weapons". Retrieved 30 April 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
6. "Zee News – India destroys its chemical weapons stockpile". Zeenews.india.com. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
7. Archived 2009-05-21 at the Wayback Machine
8. "Research Library: Country Profiles: India Biological Chronology". NTI. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
9. B. M. Udgaonkar, India’s nuclear capability, her security concerns and the recent tests, Indian Academy of Sciences, January 1999.
10. Chengappa, Raj (2000). Weapons of peace : the secret story of India's quest to be a nuclear power. New Delhi: Harper Collins Publishers, India. ISBN 81-7223-330-2.
11. "The Beginning: 1944–1960". Nuclear weapon archive. 30 March 2001. Retrieved 15 January 2013. {{cite web}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |last= (help)
12. Bruce Riedel (28 June 2012). "JFK's Overshadowed Crisis". The National Interest. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
13. ^ "Draft Report of National Security Advisory Board on Indian Nuclear Doctrine". Indianembassy.org. Archived from the original on 5 December 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
14. "Speech by NSA Shri Shivshankar Menon at NDC on "The Role of Force in Strategic Affairs"". Retrieved 27 July 2015.
15. NSA Shivshankar Menon at NDC (Speech) : india Blooms Archived 2011-08-10 at the Wayback Machine
16. Bagchi, Indrani. "Even a midget nuke strike will lead to massive retaliation, India warns Pak – The Economic Times". The Economic Times. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
17. "Advanced Agni-6 missile with multiple warheads likely by 2017". Retrieved 1 October 2013.
18. Subramanian, T.S. "Agni-VI all set to take shape". Retrieved 1 October 2013.
19. Indian Nuclear Forces, 14 July 2012.
20. India plans to impart power punch to Jaguar fighters, October 2012.
21. "CDI Nuclear Issues Area – Nuclear Weapons Database: French Nuclear Delivery Systems". cdi.org. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
22. Peri, Dinakar (12 June 2014). "India's Nuclear Triad Finally Coming of Age". The Diplomat. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
23. "Nuclear triad weapons ready for deployment: DRDO".
24. Unnithan, Sandeep (28 January 2008). "The secret undersea weapon". India Today. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
25. "Indian nuclear submarine", India Today, August 2007 edition
26. "Russia helped India's nuke programme: CIA". Press Trust of India. 9 January 2003. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
27. "Russia helped Indian nuclear programme, says CIA". The Dawn. 9 January 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
28. "Sagarika missile test-fired successfully". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 27 February 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
29. "Coming from India's defense unit: ASTRA missile". Rediff.com. 31 December 2004. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
30. "Agni-III test-fired successfully". Hinduonnet.com. 7 May 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
31. "Nuclear Data – Table of Indian Nuclear Forces, 2002". NRDC. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
32. Archived 2009-09-18 at the Wayback Machine
33. "Dhanush, naval surface-to-surface missile, test fired successfully". domain-b.com. 31 March 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
34. "India s Dhanush Undergoes 1st Night Test - SP's Naval Forces". Retrieved 27 July 2015.
35. Press Trust of India (25 March 2014). "India test fires long range N-missile launched from under sea". Retrieved 27 July 2015.
36. United Nations General Assembly Session 52 Verbatim 67. A/52/PV.67 9 December 1997. Retrieved 22 August 2007.
37. United Nations General Assembly Session 52 Resolution A/RES/52/38 page 16. Retrieved 22 August 2007.
38. "IAEA approves India nuclear inspection deal — IAEA". iaea.org. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
39. "Nuclear Suppliers Group Grants India Historic Waiver — MarketWatch". Marketwatch.com. 6 October 2008. Archived from the original on 20 October 2008. Retrieved 2 October 2008. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 20 September 2008 suggested (help)
40. "AFP: India energised by nuclear pacts". Google News. Agence France-Presse. 3 hours ago. Retrieved 2 October 2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
41. "India, France agree on civil nuclear cooperation". Rediff.com. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
42. "Bush signs India-US nuclear deal into law – Home". livemint.com. 9 October 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
43. TNN, 15 September 2009, 02.41am IST (15 September 2009). "India, Mongolia sign civil, nuclear cooperation pact – India". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 July 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
44. Sanjay Dutta, TNN, 23 January 2009, 01.35am IST (23 January 2009). "Kazakh nuclear, oil deals hang in balance – International Business – Business". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 July 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
45. SUHASINI HAIDARSeptember 6, 2014 05:35 IST. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/nuclear-deal-will-finally-allow-australian-uranium-to-india-tony-abbott/article6383173.ece. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
46. UK, Canada eye India's nuclear business (18 January 2009). "UK, Canada eye India's nuclear business". NDTV.com. Retrieved 16 July 2010. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)

Further reading

Abraham, Itty (1998). The Making of the Indian Atomic Bomb. Science, Secrecy, and the Postcolonial State. London and New York: Zed Books. ISBN 9788125016151.

Pahuja, Om Parkash (2001). India: A Nuclear Weapon State. New Delhi: Ocean Books. ISBN 978-81-87100-69-0.

Perkovich, George (1999). India's Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-23210-5.

Szalontai, Balázs (2011). The Elephant in the Room: The Soviet Union and India’s Nuclear Program, 1967-1989. Nuclear Proliferation International History Project Working Paper #1. Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.

External links

• Indian nuclear weapons program at nuclearweaponarchive.org.
• At nuclearfiles.org:

  Nuclear India's nuclear confrontation with Pakistan

  Nuclear weapon stockpiles

• CIA on India's nuclear program
• India's missile testing ranges
• Video interviews taken at the 2008 NPT PrepCom on the United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act
• Annotated bibliography for India's nuclear weapons program at the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues.
• Woodrow Wilson Center's Nuclear Proliferation International History Project, including a collection of primary-source documents on Indian nuclear development.
• The National Security Archive's "Nuclear Vault" features a number of compilations of declassified US government documents related to India's nuclear program.

v t e Indian Armed Forces
Indian Army  Indian Navy  Indian Air Force
Leadership	President Prime Minister Minister of Defence Defence Secretary National Security Advisor Chief of Defence Staff (Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee) Chief of the Army Staff Chief of the Naval Staff Chief of the Air Staff Vice Chief of Defence Staff Director General Armed Forces Medical Services Serving generals Serving admirals Serving marshals
Organisation	Ministry and committees/councils Ministry of Defence Department of Military Affairs Department of Defence Research and Development Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare National Security Council Cabinet Committee on Security Standing Committee on Defence Defence Planning Committee Nuclear Command Authority Integrated Defence Staff Defence Intelligence Agency Commands Joint Integrated Theatre Commands Andaman and Nicobar Command Commander-in-Chief Strategic Forces Command Commander-in-Chief Northern Theatre Command (India) Western Theatre Command (India) Maritime Theatre Command Defence Cyber Agency Defence Space Agency Armed Forces Special Operations Division Army Central Command Eastern Command Northern Command Southern Command South Western Command Western Command Army Training Command Navy Western Naval Command Eastern Naval Command Southern Naval Command Air Force Central Air Command Eastern Air Command Southern Air Command South Western Air Command Western Air Command Training Command Maintenance Command Other components Indian Coast Guard National Cadet Corps Paramilitary forces Special forces Territorial Army Border Roads Organisation
Personnel	Military Academies Ranks and insignia Army Navy Air Force Coast Guard Border Roads Organisation Paramilitary forces Awards and Decorations
Operations	Wars Indo-Pakistani wars 1947–1948 1965 Battle of Asal Uttar Battle of Chawinda 1971 Naval War Air War Battle of Chamb Operation Trident Operation Cactus-Lilly Battle of Longewala Kargil War Sino-Indian War External conflicts Kashmir conflict Korean War Siachen conflict Indo-Pakistani border skirmishes Operation Parakram 2011 2013 2014–2015 2016–2018 2019 Balakot airstrike Congo Crisis Sino-Indian border skirmish 1987 Nathu La and Cho La clashes Doklam standoff 2020 Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War Operation Cactus Evacuation of Indian civilians from Kuwait Piracy off the coast of Somalia Operation Raahat Operation Devi Shakti Indo-Myanmar border strike Annexations Operation Polo (Hyderabad) Operation Vijay (Portuguese India - Goa, Damaon, Silvassa & Diu) Junagadh Dadra and Nagar Haveli Insurgencies Northeast India Punjab Operation Blue Star Operation Woodrose Kashmir Counter-insurgency operations LOC surgical strike
Equipment	Defence Research and Development Organisation Ordnance Factory Board Ballistic missiles Weapons of mass destruction Army List of equipment of the Indian Army Navy Active Ships Historical Ships Weapon Systems Future Air Force Active Aircraft Historical Aircraft Aircraft Squadrons Future
Documents	Indian Maritime Security Strategy
Other topics	President's fleet review History President's Colour Award Women in the Indian Armed Forces Armed Forces Flag Day Armed Forces Tribunal Indian Armed Forces rank flags Indian military bands National War Memorial Amar Jawan Jyoti
Category Army Navy Air Force

• Nuclear technology

• Nuclear weapons programme of India
• Military of India
• Independent India
• Weapons of mass destruction by country