
India's growing missile capabilities
Like other leading nuclear powers, India has been modernising its conventional and nuclear forces. Recent reports from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Arms Control Today, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, International Institute for Strategic Studies and many other leading national and international think tanks reflect how and why India is growing and modernising its deterrent forces.
Scholarly assessments could be a) prestige, b) power projection, c) escalation dominance, and d) temptation for preemptive strikes for winning short and long battles.
It is imperative to note that India has been developing Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) systems, Multiple Independently-Targetable Reentry Vehicles (MIRVs), Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs), the K-series ranging from 700km to expected 5000+km, Brahmos missile series from supersonic to hypersonic with increasing ranges from 500km to 1500km, S-400 sophisticated missile defense systems, and more importantly India's Defence Research & Development Organization has ambitious plans for Hypersonic Glide Vehicle (HGV) ranging up to 15000km.
Technically, all these increasing ranges and lethality goes beyond China reaching up to the Central Asian region, Russia, Canada, the US and the Latin American countries.
That said, India is not only increasing the number of nuclear weapons, but also the delivery systems required for carrying these warheads to assigned targets. The more India increases its warheads, the more delivery systems it would require. One of the sophisticated delivery systems is India's growing nuclear capable missile systems.
It counts from short ranges reaching up to intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). For example, it is reported in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists on "India Nuclear Forces, 2024" that India's new Agni types of missiles could even go beyond ranges of 10,000km. Some scholars even assess that such ranges could further increase up to 16,000km. One wonders if India's growing missile capabilities with increasing ranges and sophistication could threaten regional and global security.
Aforementioned, India's aspiration for power projection comes from its economic wherewithal and its increasing strategic partnership with the leading powers such as the US, Russia and Israel that in turn boosts up its force modernisation. The recent Trump-Modi meeting indicates how the US President might influence the Indian leadership to buy American technology including the US offer for its F-35 aircrafts. Whether or not India gets the F-35, the deterrent force modernisation and power maximisation emanating out of such an imbalanced strategic partnership increases India's security.
This happens without strategically comprehending how this could potentially decrease the security of Pakistan amidst the acute security dynamics between the two South Asian rivals. India and Pakistan have already fought a number of wars, faced a number of crises and confronted many border skirmishes. Unresolved longstanding issue of Kashmir has become a nuclear flashpoint.
The Balakot crisis on 26 February 2019 reflected India's failed, but escalatory risk for imposing its dominance in the region. However, Pakistan responded with the Swift Retort on the following day. The risk of escalation from conventional to nuclear level continues to exist and the growing strategic imbalance between the two rivals further worsens such escalatory risk in South Asia.
The leading powers need to be cognisant of India's growing missile capabilities that accelerates arms race, security dilemma and crisis instability. The increasing imbalances emanating out of the leading powers growing strategic ventures with India adds fuel to the fire.
Crisis management for the ultimate crisis resolution through the balancing act by major powers may help reduce the risk of escalation. Pakistan continues to retain strategic balance for ensuring its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Such strategic balance is India-specific for deterrence purposes while ensuring broader strategic stability in South Asia.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Express Tribune
3 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Monsoon red wedding
Listen to article The monsoon session of the Indian parliament has just begun. And so far, it is shaping up to be an event reminiscent of the Red Wedding from the Game of Thrones series. Ergo, monsoon red wedding. Neat, right? Let me also posit that the title's resemblance to the movie, Monsoon Wedding, by the inimitable Mira Nair (who also happens to be rising political star Zohran Mamdani's mother) is purely coincidental. So, what happened? In view of unanswered questions about the Pahalgam attack, Operation Sindoor, the upcoming Bihar elections, the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, and the Ahmedabad plane crash, it was a given that this would likely be a high-stakes session. But the fallout of Operation Sindoor and the diluted 2024 election mandate seem to have complicated the situation further. Operation Sindoor, because there is a verifiable gap between the government's triumphalist claims and public perception about what went down. And the fallout of the 2024 election, because for the first time in Modi's enviable career, it was proven that he was not invincible. That led to many dynamics. One of them was the confirmation of the growing distance between the RSS and the Modi government. So far, Indian pundits have tried to present it as a personality clash between Dr Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS chief, and PM Modi. However, new evidence has emerged to substantiate claims that the differences are institutional, and the widening gulf between the two sides is outlook-oriented. Operation Sindoor's end has simply strengthened the case of the Modi critics within this self-contained universe. When the BJP failed to win a clear majority in the 2024 general elections, an unconfirmed report reached me via the RSS's international affiliates that Modi had reached out to the organisation with an assurance and a request. The assurance was that he would step aside when he turned 75 (17 September 2025), but until then, he or his government should not be disturbed. Now, you understand I cannot prove or disprove that claim. Since his rise to power at the Centre, Modi has used the 75-year age limit to retire many senior party leaders like Advani. Now the shoe is on the other foot. And, as if that was not enough, recently Bhagwat, who himself turns seventy-five six days before Modi, on 11 September, gave a speech in which he extolled the virtues of retiring at that age. It was read as a direct reminder to Modi. You have to hand it to the Indian media for being so craven that even so-called independent voices in the digital, social, and alternative media suggested that Bhagwat retire on 11 September to put pressure on Modi to retire six days later. Then they would enlighten you that the RSS's secretary-general Dattatreya Hosabale, and possibly Bhagwat's successor, was close to Modi. So, basically, Modi just had to outlive Bhagwat's tenure. As we shall see, this has changed significantly. But let's return to the parliamentary session for a minute. Days before the start of the session, it was already made public that, in the opening days, Modi would travel to the UK and then Mauritius. So, he wouldn't participate in the session in the intervening period. But the session's first surprise came when, on day one, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned from his office, citing his health. Only days earlier, he had informed an audience that he intended to serve his full term until 2027, barring any divine intervention. Given that, like his American counterpart, the Indian Veep is supposed to preside over upper house proceedings, the obfuscation machine that is India's media began spinning a yarn, claiming — through sources - that Dhankhar was shown the door because of his differences with the Modi government. Both as Bengal governor and then vice president, he had behaved as Modi's most committed troll. So this did not compute. Not one story mentioned that he is 74 years old and will be 76 in 2027. Get it? There is speculation that more heads may soon roll. One name mentioned is that of UP's Yogi Adityanath. But this speculation is the outcome of the fallacy that the Modi government was responsible for Dhankhar's exit. Granted, the RSS seems to be looking for a different kind of PM candidate, but it does not seem to have any problem with Yogi as CM. If Dhankhar's exit was a case of age-limit implementation, it puts another speculation to rest. Earlier, it was thought that upon turning 75, Modi may step down, installing Amit Shah as premier, only to return as president once the incumbent retires. In short, the Putin model. This theory, of course, presumes that the RSS will not have any issue with him becoming president after seventy-five. But if the vice president has to be younger than that age, then that option is also out of the question. Perhaps that is why Amit Shah appeared to be managing expectations by bringing up his retirement plan a day before Bhagwat spoke. Now the RSS's inner dynamics. While Modi, Shah and their allies have made a career out of Muslim-baiting, Bhagwat has progressively tried to reach out to India's most significant minority. This Thursday, RSS leadership met with Muslim clerics in New Delhi and agreed on an interfaith dialogue. Among the RSS top brass that participated, Hosabale was also present. So it is a clear signal that Bhagwat's policies are not just those of one man, but of the institution. Incidentally, the organisation does not elect its leader. The outgoing leader nominates the next. So, why the difference in outlook? Modi and Shah's perspective is defined by their short-term survival and hence optics. The RSS, which turns one hundred this year, believes in the long game. And while the ruling duo served its purpose well in the first term, it has become a liability. Between 2015 and 2022, the organisation had achieved many of its strategic goals — narrative dominance, the Ram Mandir judgement, and the rapid rise of the Indian diaspora. Then it learned that it had to choose between being unique and being universal. Meanwhile, Modi's policies abroad caused a blowback which negatively impacted the diaspora and India's core interests. The Sangh Parivar now needs the real deal, not a make-believe global leader. And for that, it is ready to wait and groom new leaders. It just wants the blowback to stop, which is impossible without Modi's departure. So, is it the end of the road for Modi and Shah? Who knows? But this extrapolation exercise was undertaken because the Indian media is utterly unreliable. And, given that all of these are deductions, I can be woefully wrong. But, as I highlighted above, there is enough prima facie evidence to suggest that I am not.


Business Recorder
6 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Rubio lauds Pakistan's anti-terror role, vows deeper ties in meeting with FM Dar
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday acknowledged Pakistan's sacrifices in the fight against terrorism and praised its constructive role in promoting regional stability, Aaj News reported. The remarks came during his first in-person meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, who is on an official visit to the United States. During the meeting, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation across multiple sectors, including agriculture, minerals, and digital technology. The delegation-level talks were attended by senior officials from both sides, including Pakistan's Ambassador to the U.S., Rizwan Saeed Sheikh. Dar received a warm welcome upon arrival and appreciated the U.S. leadership's efforts toward peace. He highlighted Pakistan's potential as an investment destination and reiterated the importance of deepening trade and technology collaboration. The deputy prime minister is also scheduled to speak at the US think tank, The Atlantic Council, sharing Pakistan's perspective on regional and global issues as well as the future of Pak-US relations. Pakistan's Ambassador to the US, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, and senior embassy officials received Dar at the train station in the US capital. Reciprocal tariff: Pakistan officials to meet Trump administration, Bloomberg reports During his week-long visit, Dar attended high-level signature events of Pakistan's UN Security Council (UNSC) presidency in New York, while he met UN Secretary General António Guterres, on the sidelines of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, as well. A day ago, Bloomberg, quoting US State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce as saying, reported that a Pakistani delegation will soon meet the administration of US President Donald Trump in a bid to reach an agreement on a trade deal. In a US Department of State press briefing on Wednesday, Bruce said she will attend the meeting between the Pakistani delegation and US officials. Islamabad is looking forward to the 29% reciprocal tariffs to be lifted that the Trump administration initially levied, Bloomberg said. The South Asian country has proposed to increase imports of soybeans and cotton, while it is already the second-largest buyer of US cotton by value, after China. Whereas, Pakistan's biggest export destination is the United States. Bilateral ties between Pakistan and US have improved in recent times, with Trump's holding a rare meeting with Field Marshal Asim Munir at the White House. The FO stated on July 19 that FM Dar's visit is an indication of Pakistan's increasing importance in both its relations with the US and the global landscape. Moreover, in order to complete a trade agreement, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has also visited the United States and met with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington recently to advance economic cooperation, as per the Ministry of Finance. Reuters last week reported that the negotiations, focused on reciprocal tariffs, are part of a broader push to reset economic ties at a time of shifting geopolitical alignments and Pakistan's efforts to avoid steep US duties on exports.


Business Recorder
8 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Trump dismisses Macron's plan to recognize Palestinian state
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed French President Emmanuel Macron's plan to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September. 'What he says doesn't matter,' Trump told reporters at the White House. 'He's a very good guy. I like him, but that statement doesn't carry weight.' Macron said on Thursday that France intends to recognize a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations General Assembly in hopes of bringing peace to the region. Israel will let foreign countries drop aid into Gaza, Israel army radio says 'Look, he's a different kind of a guy. He's okay. He's a team player, pretty much. But here's the good news: What he says doesn't matter. It's not going to change anything,' Trump said.