The nuclear age coincided with the advent of the Cold War. The concept of deterrence evolved in the background of ideological divide. However, both sides kept nuclear deterrence insulated from ideological considerations. This pragmatism was born out of imperative of survival. The two sides also signed the Helsinki Accord in 1975 committing them not to change the territorial status quo in Europe through use of force. Both these conditions, which contributed to stability of deterrence during the worst days of the Cold War, are absent in Pakistan’s nuclear policy.

Introduction The closest formulation of Pakistan’s Nuclear Security doctrine, if any, was enunciated in an article appearing in The News, in October 1999, written by former Foreign Minister Agha Shahi, former Foreign Secretary Abdus Sattar and Air Chief Air Marshal (retired) Zulfiqar Khan. It was India-specific and spoke of credible, minimum deterrence - it would be flexible in response in a dynamic threat environment. India’s offer of `No First use’ was rejected - instead, Pakistan offered a `No War Pact’, which was not acceptable to India.

Introduction Pakistan’s electoral contest on 25 July 2018 has been billed as being between Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) - even though he is debarred from contesting or holding a party office – and Imran’s Khan Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). A major achievement for Pakistan is that this would be the third election to be conducted after the revival of the democratic processes in 2008.

Mr. Tilak Devasher, former civil servant, author and columnist, shared key findings of his outstanding research, titled ‘Pakistan: Courting the Abyss’ in a panel discussion, held at the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) on 27 January 2017. With Amb Satish Chandra and Mr.