Pakistan And India Arms Race

While most of the media’s attention has been targeted on Islamic Republic of Iran and its nuclear ambitions, a full-throttle nuclear race is currently current in another a part of the globe wherever coercion, ethnic violence, non secular ideology, border disputes and political instability square measure endemic.
In the last year, Pakistan has take a look at pink-slipped a short-range missile and a surface-to-surface field of battle missile, each systems with nuclear capability—indicating associate minacious temperament on Pakistan’s half to truly nuke its own territory within the event of associate incursion by India.

Pakistan has also ramped up its production of fissile material. With the assistance of China, it's begun construction of a fourth chemical element reactor, greatly increasing its ability to show out smaller, a lot of efficient—and easier to steal—weapons. Latest estimates currently place the quantity of warheads on Pakistani territory at ninety to one hundred ten, up from regarding seventy close to simply 2 years past. Pakistan has already passed its rival and main nemesis, India, and is currently heading in the right direction to overtake UK and because the world’s No. five nuclear energy. If things continue unchecked, Pakistan may become the world’s No. three nuclear power—behind U.S. and Russia—before the end of the last decade.

Meanwhile India, with a watch on its burgeoning contention with China, has simply further a brand new Russian-made U-boat to its navy and is currently building its own fleet of nuclear subs. One has already been launched and can enter service next year. conjointly in Gregorian calendar month, India test-fired its 1st long-range missile, dubiously dubbed the “China Killer” by the Indian press. however to actually match the Chinese, India desires a lot of warheads. A debatable 2008 agreement with the U.S. on civilian nuclear energy currently permits India to shop for atomic number 92 on international markets, that means India will build a lot of reactors—and in theory turn out a lot of weapons-grade fissile material.

India says it won’t tolerate “another Mumbai”—the audacious 2008 terror attack on the town . For 2 countries that have gone to war with one another 3 times since 1948, and have had many shut calls in recent years, the danger of a harmful mistake is goodish.
Pulitzer Center Senior Editor Tom Hundley travels to each countries to talk with officers and high specialists regarding the factors—real and imagined—that square measure driving this dangerous new nuclear race.