INS Arighat boosts India's nuclear deterrence

INS Arighat remains a formidable strategic asset in India’s nuclear triad.

- ARVIND KUMAR

After Pokharan II, the onus on India had increased and when it formalized its nuclear doctrine in 2003, it clearly enunciated a set of principles on which the future course of action could be based. India proposed "No-first Use" as a major pillar of its nuclear doctrine. It means India will not be the first one to use nuclear weapons against nuclear weapon states and also emphasized on how its non-use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states will remain important in its declaration. India's nuclear doctrine also talks about achieving "triad" capability, meaning it will acquire all the three legs-land based, air based and sea based assets for enhancing its nuclear deterrent capability.

It must be emphasised that to complement India's no-first use doctrine, it needed a strong and robust sea based nuclear deterrent. In the case of any eventuality, both land based and sea based assets remain highly vulnerable. It is, perhaps, a credible sea based capability that can only provide second strike capability. In this context, India's intensification of acquiring nuclear powered submarine began though the project under the umbrella "Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV)" started much earlier during the early part of the 1980s. The augmentation of India's efforts in achieving credible sea based deterrent capability happened mainly after Pokharan II.