Nonproliferation Policy of the Clinton Administration toward India: Shifting of Nuclear Goalposts?

Abstract

This article examines the nuclear nonproliferation policy of the Clinton administration (1993–2001) toward India. It is argued that initially President Clinton was focused on a “capping, rollback, and eliminate” approach toward Indian nuclearization. But, after India conducted nuclear tests in 1998, there was a discernible change in Clinton's policy toward India, which has largely gone unrecognized. The Clinton administration considerably shifted the nuclear goalposts—from the cap, rollback, and eliminate Indian nuclear weapons—to merely the exercise of nuclear restraint by India. This, in turn, implied a tacit acceptance of the nuclear weapons possessed by India. The Clinton administration cleared the languishing nuclear debris and created space for the next administration to reset the anomalous nuclear relationship with India.