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From Ambivalence to Resurgence: India’s Journey as a Nuclear Power

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  • Yogesh Joshi

    (Yogesh Joshi is a Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore and a Non-resident Global Policy Fellow with the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, Washington, DC.)

Abstract

This article aims to understand India’s remarkable nuclear journey in the last 75 years. It categorises India’s atomic trajectory into four distinct periods: Ambivalent (1948–1988), Reserved (1989–1998), Responsible (1998–2008) and Resurgent (2009 onwards). In doing so, the article provides an account of how the changing nature of India’s nuclear programme has impacted the scope and depth of its nuclear deterrence. However, the programme’s status is also consequential for India’s foreign policy practice and its approach to using force in international politics. The article shows how India’s nuclear capability, its foreign policy practice, and its approach to the use of force have seen dramatic shifts in the last thirty years. A resurgent India aims to become a world-class nuclear power, undisturbed by foreign perceptions of its atomic programme and increasingly resolute to use force even under the threat of escalation by its nuclear adversaries.

Suggested Citation

  • Yogesh Joshi, 2022. "From Ambivalence to Resurgence: India’s Journey as a Nuclear Power," India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, , vol. 78(2), pages 350-370, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:indqtr:v:78:y:2022:i:2:p:350-370
    DOI: 10.1177/09749284221090552
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kroenig, Matthew, 2009. "Exporting the Bomb: Why States Provide Sensitive Nuclear Assistance," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 103(1), pages 113-133, February.
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