Second strike: INS Arihant enhances India’s nuclear deterrence vis-à-vis the Pakistan-China combine

The successful completion of INS Arihant’s first deterrence patrol with live nuclear-tipped missiles signals the operationalisation of India’s long-awaited nuclear triad. With INS Arihant, the country’s first indigenous nuclear submarine, India now has the capability to launch nuclear weapons from land, air and sea. This significantly strengthens India’s second strike capabilities, enhancing the deterrent value of its nuclear arsenal. For a country that has a declared no-first-use nuclear policy, the underwater leg of the nuclear triad is particularly important. For, a nuclear submarine with ballistic missiles is the most potent platform for retaliatory strikes.

Thus, in the event that India is at the receiving end of a nuclear attack, it is the country’s nuclear powered submarine deployed at sea that will be most handy in mounting a nuclear counterattack. Announcing INS Arihant’s successful mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that the submarine was a fitting response to those who indulged in nuclear blackmail. This is a clear reference to Pakistan. On the one hand, Pakistan brandishes its nuclear arsenal to warn India even as it sends terrorists across the border, while on the other hand it holds out the threat of its nukes falling into the hands of terrorists in negotiations with countries like the US.

Against this backdrop, INS Arihant’s induction is a clear signal to Rawalpindi GHQ that any nuclear misadventure will certainly be met with a befitting response. Enhanced second strike capabilities also aid India’s military-strategic depth vis-à-vis an assertive China that has been regularly deploying its submarines in the Indian Ocean Region. In fact, given the Pakistan-China relationship, their growing convergence over issues like Kashmir and Beijing’s military help – encompassing conventional and nuclear – to Islamabad over the years, the two countries are part of the same nuclear threat against India. Hence, China too would be culpable if Pakistan launches a nuclear strike against India, widening the options for New Delhi’s counterstrike.