ISLAMABAD: The acquirement of nuclear-armed submarines by Pakistan andIndia has increased the chances of a destructive war between the twocountries, reported*Vox.*link>
Islamabad has publicly stated that the decision to arm Pakistan Navy withnuclear submarines is a direct response to New Delhi, which announced thedeployment of its first nuclear submarine, in August 2016, according to theAmerican news website.
In theory, the presence of nuclear missiles on submarines had made any warbetween the two adversaries potentially unwinnable, and ultimately, futile,the US-based news website underlined.
As Pakistan and India have now achieved completion of the nuclear triad,both have the capability to strike each other by land, air and sea. In theevent of a nuclear war, the submarine is traditionally considered the‘safest’ bet, as it can survive a first strike by the enemy, and retaliateeffectively.
Pakistan and India are arch enemies and bilateral relations between the twocountries have been uneasy at best ever since becoming independent in 1947.More recently, they have also been locked in a nuclear arms race.
*Vox *notes that as the race spirals over into the Indian Ocean, the numberof atomic weapons on the sub-continent is increasing, the chain of commandand control over these weapons is at risk of being loosened, and they arenow being placed in an environment where things can go horribly wrong.
“The nuclearisation of the Indian Ocean has begun,” Zafar Jaspal, a nuclearsecurity expert at Islamabad’s Quaid-e-Azam University, told *Vox*. “Bothstates have now crossed the threshold,” he added.
The report has compared the situation in South Asia to the nuclear standoffon the Korean peninsula, although it admits that Islamabad and New Delhihave managed to avoid international scrutiny over their nuclear programmes.It has also warned of a nuclear conflict arising from a surprise attack, asinexperienced officers control atomic weapons in contested waters.