With the Navy poised to attain a retaliatory nuclear strike capability, India will soon have a “credible and invulnerable” deterrent nuclear triad in place, Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma said here on Monday.
Admiral Verma said such a nuclear triad was required in view of India’s “no first-use” policy.
Setting out his analysis of India’s maritime security, Admiral Verma, who is here on a three-day visit as part of a bilateral Indian Navy-Royal Navy interaction, said there was increasing awareness in India that “the destiny of our nation is entwined with our maritime destiny”.
“A retaliatory strike capability that is credible and invulnerable is an imperative. The Navy is poised to complete the triad, and our maritime and nuclear doctrines would then be aligned to ensure that our nuclear insurance will come from the sea,” he said while addressing a conference in London.
India is developing a retaliatory strike capability through weapon systems from land, air and sea. It is believed that it already has the capability to do so from land and air.
It will have the capability to do so with the induction of the indigenous INS Arihant nuclear submarine which is expected to be launched for sea trials in near future. Admiral Verma observed that Asian nations were growing at different rates, in different ways, and different economic models.
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‘Pak trained 26/11 militants’
AGE CORRESPONDENT
new delhi, JUNE 25
Hinting at Pakistan, Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma has drawn attention to the “hybrid” of a “state-sponsored, non-state actor”.
Delivering an address at the International Institute of Strategic Studies on “Metamorphosis of Matters Maritime: An Indian Perspective” in the United Kingdom during his official visit, Admiral Verma also drew attention to the fact that the terrorists who carried out the 26/11 attack in Mumbai four years ago were “trained and equipped in Pakistan”.
“In our external environment one of our core concerns is the coalescing of the ‘state’ with ‘non-state’ entities. We might describe this hybrid as the ‘state-sponsored, non-state actor’,” Admiral Verma said.