No First Use & Massive Retaliation – CDS Gen Anil Chauhan Reiterates India’s Nuclear Trajectory
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan has reiterated that the uniqueness of India’s nuclear trajectory is premised on the principle of ‘No First Use & Massive Retaliation’.
Worldwide, this nuclear doctrine is used by nuclear powers and is based on using massive retaliation as a deterrence against any adversary contemplating the use of nuclear weapons during the act of war or otherwise.
In some parts of the world, it is also called Mutual Assured Destruction or ‘MAD’, meaning if one country uses nuclear weapons against another nuclear armed nation, both of them will be completely destroyed in action and retaliation.
Gen Anil Chauhan was delivering the keynote address on ‘Nuclear Strategy : Contemporary Developments and Future Possibilities’ in a seminar organized by Centre for Air Power Studies – IISS Seminar in New Delhi on June 26, 2024.
In his address, Gen Anil Chauhan highlighted the changing nature & characteristics of conventional warfare. He impressed that the threat from nuclear weapons has once again occupied centre-stage in the geopolitical landscape.
The CDS stressed the need for a deeper thought, development of new doctrines, reimagining deterrence and safeguarding nuclear C4I2SR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Information, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) infrastructure.
Gen Anil Chauhan also released the Asian Defence Review 2024 ‘Emerging Technologies and Changing Dimensions of Threats to India’ at the CAPS – IISS Seminar.