TY - JOUR
TI - Pakistan – towards the nuclear triad
AU - Zarychta, Stanisław
TI - Pakistan – towards the nuclear triad
AB - Pakistan’s political history since independence has been marked by periods of political, military, and economic instability. The Kashmir conflict remains a major point of contention between Pakistan and India. Therefore, Pakistan’s main reason for building nuclear weapons was as a deterrent against Indian conventional forces and a desire to gain a leading role in the Islamic world.
The assessment of Pakistan’s nuclear potential is very difficult due to limited information and lack of transparency on the part of military circles. While all nuclear-weapon states generally aim to lower their capabilities, Pakistan, on the contrary, is developing its nuclear capabilities and is currently projected to have around 165 nuclear warheads. Pakistan’s nuclear policy is to have a full spectrum of nuclear weapons from tactical nuclear weapons to strategic ballistic missiles.
The main task of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is deterrence. Pakistan’s nuclear doctrine is intended firstly to deter India from aggression against Pakistan and secondly to prevent India from being victorious in the event of war. The basis of the doctrine of the Pakistani armed forces is the current concept of offensive defense, which assumes conducting a counterattack, the purpose of which will be to transfer a possible armed conflict to the enemy’s territory.
VL - 2023
IS - Issue 23
PY - 2023
SN - 2084-2902
C1 - 2353-8724
SP - 209
EP - 223
DO - 10.4467/23538724GS.23.013.18159
UR - https://ejournals.eu/en/journal/gsaw/article/pakistan-w-kierunku-triady-jadrowej