Murky waters, dangerous currents: India, Pakistan, China and the coming nuclearisation of the Indian Ocean

Abstract

We are currently seeing a potentially dangerous nuclear proliferation as India, Pakistan, and perhaps China, look to deploy ship-borne nuclear weapons in the Indian Ocean. India-Pakistan nuclear rivalry is the immediate driver for these developments, but the India-China nuclear relationship is also increasingly moving into the Indian Ocean. The deployment of strategic and tactical nuclear weapons in the maritime realm could further destabilise already unstable nuclear relationships, creating a real risk of a sea-based nuclear exchange.