-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Rishab Aiyer Ghosh wrote:

indians and pakistanis don't worry about nuclear war because we know that the nuclear tests were for attention - india has had the Bomb since 1974, and pakistan has been known to have it for a decade. india carried out the tests because it felt the us was ignoring india (media coverage of "asia" typically limited itself to east asia) and wanted more attention. obviously pakistan had to show that it was as good as its neighbour. that's it.

Interesting, but where are you getting this? It's not my area, but I think you're a being little optimistic--the only nuclear scientist I ever met who was involved with the Indian tests struck me as being a real honest-to- god pakistan-bashing hawk. Oh well, there's science and then there's strategy... Here's a great pdf on the latter if anyone is interested: India's Emerging Nuclear Posture: Between Recessed Deterrent and Ready Arsenal Ashley J. Tellis http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1127/ And a quick summary: On May 11, 1998, after a hiatus of more than two decades, India conducted a series of nuclear tests that signaled a critical shift in its strategic thinking. Once content to embrace a nuclear posture consisting largely of "maintaining the option"--i.e., neither creating a nuclear arsenal nor renouncing its right to do so--India is now on the threshold of adopting a posture that, while stopping short of creating a ready arsenal, will take as its goal the establishment of a "minimum but credible deterrent," known as a "force-in-being." This book examines the forces--political, strategic, technological, and ideational--that led to this dramatic policy shift and describes how New Delhi's force-in-being will be fashioned, particularly in light of the threat India faces from its two most salient adversaries, China and Pakistan. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: Hush 2.0 wl8EARECAB8FAjuv6z0YHGF1dG8zMDEwOTRAaHVzaG1haWwuY29tAAoJEKadvsVlUK4P 82UAniQkaFMJFbGsvqbJOtOCOy3YLQVvAKCgI0Nztd9mSUJM5iMA1YWC626rrg== =yEKq -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----