India and Pakistan have long been characterized as a ‘nuclear flashpoint,’ from fictionalized crises on television shows like The West Wing in 2000 to very real border conflicts as recent as May 2025. But what does more careful and focused research and analysis tell us? How have nuclear signaling and escalation-management practices of both countries evolved since 2000? And in an increasingly fraught and fractured global landscape, how can policymakers and analysts prepare for the future?  

In two new papers from Carnegie’s Nuclear Policy Program and the Nautilus Institute, experts on India and Pakistan’s approach to nuclear policy and the ever-looming tension examine these questions. Join George Perkovich, the Japan Chair for a World Without Nuclear Weapons, for a moderated discussion with the authors of these outstanding new publications:  

• Moeed Yusuf and Rizwan Zeb, “A Quarter Century of Nuclear South Asia: Nuclear Noise, Signalling, and the Risk of Escalation in India-Pakistan Crises” 
• Rakesh Sood, “Escalation Dynamics Under the Nuclear Shadow – India’s Approach”   

In addition to the paper authors, George will be joined by Sitara Noor, a postdoc fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University; Sushant Singh, lecturer in South Asian Studies at Yale University and consulting editor at The Caravan magazine in New Delhi; and Sadia Tasleem a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia and faculty member in the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. 

Events in this Series

Bluff or Death? How to Assess Nuclear “Threats”
February 5, 2026

Nuclear Flashpoint? How Pakistan and India Manage Escalation
February 12, 2026

Nuclear Threats and the Limits of International Law
February 23, 2026

These events are presented in partnership with the Nautilus Institute and the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network.