This book examines India's nuclear strategy as it confronts the potential threat from both China and Pakistan. The potential threats - traditional as well as non-traditional CBRN threats - will be examined as will India's approach to dealing with them. India's nuclear arsenal, its dual purpose civil-military space program and its nascent BMD capability will be explored with a view to informing the reader as to the steps taken by India to confront its nuclear challenges. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

In 1999, less than one year after both countries tested nuclear weapons, India and Pakistan found themselves locked in another armed conflict. In spite of a ray of hope for peace in February 1999, when the Indian Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, visited Pakistan and signed the Lahore declaration, by April 1999, the two countries were effectively at war. From the prospect of improved relations and a chance for a peaceful resolution of differences, within one month the subcontinent was plunged into another war. In a brilliant tactical plan, Pakistan launched Operation Badr which saw a brigade sized force of Pakistan Army troops and Islamist militants infiltrate into Indian controlled territory. Supported by Pakistani artillery and well provided with small arms, mortars, and anti-aircraft weapons, these infiltrators were able to entrench along ridgelines with commanding positions over Indian lines of supply and communications. Once realizing the seriousness of the situation, the Indian government ordered its armed forces into a ponderous, but ultimately successful effort to evict the invaders. Facing treacherous terrain, and a well-supplied and entrenched enemy, the Indian Army troops supported by artillery and air force clawed their way up mountain heights to capture fortified enemy positions. 'Kargil 1999' is the first ever military history of this conflict in the English language. It examines the political and strategic situation in the run-up to the conflict, the precarious position of the Indian government, and the disconnect between the Pakistani civilian government and its armed forces. Moreover, it provides a detailed review of the state of the Indian and Pakistani armed forces as of 1998-1999, with particular attention to their organization, orders of battle, their air forces and air defence networks. Because the Kargil War of 1999 was the first conflict during which both India and Pakistan were in possession of nuclear weapons, this account provides a detailed review of their related potentials - including stocks of fissile materials, and delivery systems (manned aircraft and the burgeoning indigenous ballistic missile programs of increasing sophistication). Finally, 'Kargil 1999' provides a detailed account of ground combat, which culminated in the Indian infantry storming the heights occupied by the Pakistani infantry, while supported by artillery and air force. Illustrated by more than 100 photographs, maps, and authentic colour artworks, 'Kargil 1999' offers a military perspective of the first confrontation of the two declared nuclear powers of South Asia - a conflict that tested their political, military, diplomatic, and nuclear resolve.

In 1988, the Indian Army and Air Force, ably supported by the Indian Navy, carried out a daring intervention in the Maldives. Facing an attempted coup by a renegade group of Tamil insurgents from Sri Lanka, the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), the government of the Maldives, led by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom sent out a request for help, to which India responded. Operation Cactus details this, India's most ambitious out of area intervention to date. Starting with a background of the Maldives, the book describes the history, economy, demography and politics of the islands with an emphasis on the government of the day and the strategic value of the islands to PLOTE as well as the geopolitical ramifications for India in respect to the need to secure its influence in the area. Operation Cactus details the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, with particular emphasis on elements that could be used in out of area interventions. The transport assets of the Indian Air Force and the amphibious capabilities of the Indian Navy of the time are particularly noted. Special importance is given to the 54th Air Assault Division, the 340th Independent Brigade, 50th Parachute Brigade, the Paracommandos and the Marine Commando Force along with a brief history of each of these forces and their combat history, their ORBAT in 1988 and their status today. The Maldives National Security Service of 1988 is also discussed and its evolution into the Maldives National Defence Force in the aftermath of the 1988 coup. The PLOTE attempt to overthrow the Gayoom government is discussed with the resistance it faced from the NSS. Operation Cactus itself, the intervention by India, is detailed with the operational planning, the mobilization of forces and the force levels committed all discussed. The actual landing in the Maldives, the paucity of intelligence and the force selection are detailed along with the confrontation with PLOTE. Finally, the flight of the PLOTE insurgents will be discussed as they sought to escape via sea. Their surveillance by Indian Navy MR aircraft as well as their interception by the Indian Navy are described, along with their final confrontation with Indian Naval special forces.

Since the 1998 nuclear tests and the publication of India's Nuclear Doctrine, India has continued to face endemic security challenges from both China and Pakistan. The latter, through the apparent induction of tactical nuclear weapons into the equation and a rapid expansion of its fissile material production capacity has introduced an additional complication into Indian security calculations while China has become increasingly assertive and intransigent in its conduct towards its neighbours, India included. In light of an evolving challenge, India's nuclear strategy, predicated on a credible minimum deterrence threshold needs to be looked at in light of the prospect of lowered nuclear thresholds in the case of Pakistan as well as potential coercive nuclear posturing from China. In neither case can nuclear strategy be divorced from conventional military strategy as any operation - offensive or defensive - will now have to be carried out with the potential of nuclear escalation in mind. Nuclear India details the evolution of India's nuclear journey, from the 1960s to the present day, the historical events leading to the 1974 nuclear test, the reluctant nuclearization that occurred thereafter and the first phases of an operational nuclear deterrent in the late 1980s. By detailing the weapons and delivery systems developed, this book evaluates India's deterrent posture as it exists at present and its current evolutionary path. The speculated shape, size and composition of India's current deterrent is examined, including a detailed discussion of India's Ballistic missile programs, its air launched and ground based cruise missiles and its growing SSBN/SLBM capability. In addition, Nuclear India includes details of ballistic missile defences as well as the practicality of enhanced preparedness against decapitating or paralyzing EMP strikes and unconventional nuclear threats. Nuclear India examines India's nuclear doctrine and assess its credibility as India moves inexorably towards a nuclear triad.

In 1984, the Indian Army carried out a stunning operation that captured the Siachen Glacier in the northernmost regions of what is now the Union Territory of Ladakh. Since that time, a full brigade of Indian troops has faced off against a similar number of Pakistani soldiers in the highest battlefield on earth. Sustained by a combination of tenuous road supply lines and air support, where helicopter manuals have had to be rewritten, the two countries have had numerous skirmishes that have escalated into the use of artillery fire. Operation Meghdoot tells the story of this conflict. Beginning with the trauma of partition and the first Kashmir war that saw the region divided between India and Pakistan, it progresses to the 1962 Sino-Indian war which saw the Aksai Chin region lost to China and the Shaksgam Valley unilaterally ceded by Pakistan to China. The consequence of this was to allow the development of the Karakoram Pass and highway to link China to Pakistan. In the aftermath of Pakistan's defeat in the 1971 war, the mapping of the area created sufficient confusion to enable both India and Pakistan to assert their respective claims. This eventually led to Operation Meghdoot which enabled India to secure the entire Siachen glacier, pre-empting Pakistan's Operation Abadeel. Operation Meghdoot examines the political, geographic and geopolitical imperatives that drove both sides towards conflict in this inhospitable area. The evolution of India's mountain divisions with their attendant expertise is discussed as well as the air support capabilities available to both sides. Operation Meghdoot itself is discussed in detail including its planning and execution, and the conflict since 1984 is chronicled with an emphasis upon the military engagements, the use of air power and the struggle of both armies to adapt and cope with the environment. Finally, the implications of India's hold on the Siachen Glacier is analysed with respect to its position against a hostile Pakistan and an increasingly hostile China. Operation Meghdoot includes 80 photos, 10 maps and diagrams, and 15 colour profiles.