THE DIPLOMAT

APLN member Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan writes on the China-Pakistan WMD Nexus.

India’s concerns about nuclear and missile proliferation are well-known. India has accordingly taken a number of steps at the national and international levels to curb these destabilizing trends. At the national level, following the signing of the India-U.S. nuclear deal in 2005, India also put in place the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005 which “prohibit[s] unlawful activities in relation to weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.” Similarly, despite India’s skepticism toward global non-proliferation regimes, having been a target of many in the past, India became a member of various technology control arrangements, including the Wassenaar Arrangement, the Missile Technology Control Regime, and Australia Group, and has sought membership of the NSG too, though this has been spiked by China.

Although Pakistan is already a nuclear weapon state – it has slightly more nuclear warheads than India has – India continues to remain concerned about the continued growth of Islamabad’s nuclear and missile programs. Even more so, New Delhi worries about the continuing deep links between China and Pakistan, its two main military and political adversaries. This latest interception will serve to reinforce these worries.

Credit: Depositphotos

The original article can be accessed here.