Author: Rajat Pandit
Publication: The Times of India
Date: January 5, 2003
Formalising the country's nuclear
command and control structure, the government on Saturday declared for
the first time that India would retain the option of retaliating with nuclear
weapons if attacked with chemical or biological weapons by even non-nuclear
adversaries.
Announcing a nuclear command authority
(NCA) and a strategic forces command (SFC) tasked with managing India's
nuclear arsenal after a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
the cabinet committee on security (CCS) said, "Nuclear retaliation to a
first strike will be massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage."
The NCA includes a political council,
chaired by the Prime Minister, and an executive council headed by the national
security advisor. The political council will be the "sole body which can
authorise the use of nuclear weapons". The executive council, in turn,
will provide inputs for decision- making by the NCA and execute the directives
given to it by the political council.
Reacting to this, defence analyst
K. Subrahmanyam said, "The final decision on use of nuclear weapons cannot
be made in a council. It has to be made by the leader (Prime Minister)
in his individual capacity, based on military advice, especially when you
are going to act only in retaliation."
By making some operational nuclear
arrangements public for the first time, the CCS sought to reassure citizens
that the country was fully ready to tackle any eventuality, especially
in light of Gen Pervez Musharraf's recent statement that his country was
ready to fight an "unconventional war" with India.
The government also sent a signal
to the international community that the nukes in India were firmly under
civilian control and a sophisticated command and control mechanism was
in place to prevent their accidental or unauthorised use.
