India's Options in Pakistan: What Will Follow the Attack in Kashmir
George Perkovich
In December 2001, terrorists attacked the Indian parliament complex in New Delhi, prompting the Indian government to mobilize roughly 500,000 troops toward the border with Pakistan. U.S. officials spent months shuttling and phoning back and forth between the leaders of the two countries urging a non-military resolution. India, understandably, sought clear assurances from the Pakistani president, General Pervez Musharraf, that the country would end its support for cross-border terrorism and work to eradicate the groups that perpetrate it.
Experts Divided in Support of Nation’s Nuclear Armament
Korea JoongAng Daily
After Pyongyang’s fifth nuclear test earlier this month, South Korean politicians are now split between those who support the nation’s nuclear armament and those who stand opposed. On Sept. 12, a group of 31 ruling Saenuri Party lawmakers released a statement calling for a parliamentary special committee to discuss South Korea’s independent nuclear armament.
Secretary of Defense Carter: Nuclear Triad ‘Bedrock of Our Security’
Aaron Mehta | Defense News
Calling the nuclear mission “the bedrock of our security, and the highest priority mission of the Department of Defense,” Secretary of Defense Ash Carter offered a full-throated defense of the need to modernize all three legs of the nuclear triad during a visit to Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, home to both B-52s and Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles. Minot is home to several hundred Air Launched Cruise Missiles (ALCMs), which provide the US stand-off, plane-launched nuclear strike capability. Those weapons are increasing in age, with one maintainer telling reporters during the visit that the Pentagon is exploring the use of 3-D printing to help compensate for out-of-production parts vital to the weapon.
U.S. Sanctions Chinese Firm Tied to North Korea's Nuclear Programme
David Brunnstrom | Reuters
The United States said on Monday it had sanctioned a Chinese industrial machinery and equipment wholesaler, a new step in tightening the financial noose around North Korea's nuclear programme after its fifth nuclear test this month. The U.S. Treasury said it was sanctioning Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co (DHID) and four of its executives, including the firm's founder Ma Xiaohong, under U.S. regulations targeting proliferators of weapons of mass destruction.
Russian Navy Holds Cruise Missile Firing Exercises in Drills in Barents Sea
Xinhua News
Warships from Russia's Northern Fleet have carried out cruise missile firing exercises during the final stage of the ongoing naval drills in the Barents Sea, Russian Northern Fleet press service head Vadim Serga said Sunday. "During today's final stage of Northern Fleet forces exercises, the Pyotr Velikiy heavy nuclear missile cruiser and a project 949A Antey cruise missile submarine have carried out combat firing exercises with underwater-launched cruise missiles," Serga was quoted as saying by the Sputnik news agency.
The Case for Restraint in India: Why the Conventional Wisdom is Wrong
Sameer Lalwani | Foreign Affairs
After last week’s terrorist attack on an Indian military base in Uri, Kashmir, which resulted in the deaths of 18 soldiers, a debate over how to respond has ripped through India’s strategic community. For the time being, the Indian Prime Minister appears to have signaled a restrained course, but additional measures could be considered and the debate will surely continue. Three points of conventional wisdom have already begun to crystallize. All of them seem to tilt India towards military action.