Beyond Borders Preventing the Unthinkable: India & Pakistan’s Nuclear Standoff With Aparna Pande
On May 20, 2025, World Affairs Council of Atlanta organized a free public webinar Preventing the Unthinkable: India & Pakistan’s Nuclear Standoff with Aparna Pande, Director, Research fellow, The Hudson Institute, Washington; in conversation with Amb.(rtr) Charles Shapiro, President Emeritus of the Council and former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela.
On April 22, 2025 attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, where 27 people mostly tourists were targeted based on religion by terrorists from Pakistan evolved into a multi domain conflict involving airstrikes, missile exchanges, drown warfare, and cyber operations.
Named Operation Sindoor, India carried out missile strikes inside Pakistan on May 6-7 was defused through a U.S brokered cease fire on May 10.
The tension between the two neighboring countries remain peaceful and then again are triggered over Kashmir which remains the heart of a decade long territorial dispute between India and Pakistan.
Dr. Aparna Pande summarized the past wars and presented a balanced view of the neighboring countries.
Who won has to be evaluated after the fog of war settles but in the mean time, both sides claim victory and the public believes the same. China gets the benefit to showcase to other countries that their equipment which is cheaper yet effective.
Both countries possess nuclear weapons and delivery systems, but their doctrines differ: India maintains a "No First Use" policy, while Pakistan follows a "full-spectrum deterrence" approach. Experts caution that this doctrinal divergence, combined with modernization of arsenals and high-alert postures, leaves little room for error. There is also growing concern among nuclear security analysts about the risk of terrorist groups gaining access to nuclear materials or weapons in the region.
Amb. Shapiro shared, Former Georgia U.S. Senator Sam Nunn’s warned that the most alarming nuclear threat lies in the volatile relationship between India and Pakistan. They carry deep-seated conflict history rooted in the 1947 partition of British India.
Questions from audience were answered by Aparna.
https://youtu.be/t3r5Z9yd3n4?si=Rj2ZaAmKfv-M0wJA
Dr. Pande’s book include Explaining Pakistan’s foreign Policy: Escaping India, From Chanakya to Modi: Evolution of India’s Foreign Policy, Handbook of Contemporary Pakistan and Making India Great:The Promise of a Reluctant Global Power.
—Geeta Mehrotra
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