Dr Adil Sultan is a seasoned expert on South Asia’s strategic and security dynamics. With over three decades of experience in the Pakistan Air Force, including 14 years in the Strategic Plans Division, he has specialized in arms control and nuclear nonproliferation. Currently serving as the Dean of the Faculty of Aerospace and Strategic Studies at Air University, Islamabad, Dr. Sultan has also held research and leadership roles at prominent think tanks like the Centre of Pakistan and Gulf Studies. As a former visiting fellow at King’s College London, he has contributed extensively to academic discourse through numerous publications, including his book Universalizing Nuclear Nonproliferation Norms: A Regional Framework for the South Asian Nuclear Weapon States.
The present nuclear nonproliferation regime in the world does not consider Pakistan as well as India as nuclear weapon states. Thus, both of these South Asian States are majorly deprived of the perks Nuclear weapon states have in the regime. Dr Sultan, in this book, however, suggests a regional framework that would incorporate the states possessing nuclear weapons and bring them into the mainstream nonproliferation regime. Key drivers to attain nuclear power for both India and Pakistan were primarily different. For India, prestige and emerging as a potential global power were the main reasons to acquire nuclear weapons in the first place.
Meanwhile, Pakistan remained uninterested in making nuclear weapons because of its overconfidence in the United States’ alliance until she got a reality check in the 1965 and 1971 wars from the US’s unsupportive conduct towards Pakistan and, on the other hand, helping India. In such circumstances, when India showed clear signs of having nuclear weapons to the world, it became necessary for Pakistan’s security to make nuclear weapons to balance the power in the region.
The disagreement in the bipolar world during the Cold War failed the efforts of the total elimination of nuclear weapons, which led to multilateral nuclear proliferation. To prevent the horizontal expansion and advancement of weapons of mass destruction, the international community has devised various formal and informal initiatives. Pakistan’s nuclear diplomacy was primarily centered on regional nonproliferation, but after the 1998 tests, its major focus has
been to balance the nuclear power between both countries. Pakistan has several times shown the willingness to join NPT but without giving up on its nuclear weapons. Pakistan has endorsed almost all initiatives under the nonproliferation regime. Still, it has not signed the binding nuclear treaties, given that India is not a signatory and binding member of these treaties. The particular reason for the circumstance is that Pakistan does not want to deteriorate the nuclear equation in the region. Pakistan has proven itself as a responsible nuclear weapon country with various domestic initiatives and policy frameworks for the peaceful use of nuclear technology as well as its possession for security reasons. The international community needs to explore new approaches to integrate non-NPT states into the mainstream nonproliferation regime by offering a tangible substitution.
The Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) has set guidelines to control the trade of fissile material and nuclear technology to non-NPT states. It was established when India used nuclear material for military use after importing it from Canada for peaceful purposes. But later on, the NSG guidelines were compensated for India in 2008 by US pressure, while on the other hand, many eligible NPT states were denied the nuclear material and technology even for peaceful objectives. This asymmetrical approach by the NSG and NPT regime towards India and the rest of the states, like Pakistan, has created further mistrust.
For regional stability, Dr Sultan has mentioned in the book various confidence-building measures that Pakistan proposed to solve the nuclear tensions on a bilateral basis. Still, India remained reluctant to the regional approach. Moreover, he has highlighted the complexities and challenges in implementing effective nuclear confidence-building measures between India and Pakistan in South Asia, emphasizing the need for mutual trust, transparency, and verifiable agreements to reduce tensions in the region. Since Pakistan and India both have security concerns in the area and are de facto nuclear weapon states that are not recognized by the international community as NPT states.
Dr. Sultan, in this book, suggests that they need a Regional Nonproliferation Regime (RNR) the least for the bilateral trust building that will be integrated with the global nonproliferation treaty. It will help encourage both countries to form a legally binding, mutually beneficial bilateral treaty that will serve the interests of both states in the international arena, especially regarding the challenge of being non-NPT nuclear weapon states. However, this RNR itself has some shortcomings as it does not involve two other de facto non-NPT nuclear weapon states, Israel and North Korea, in its framework, making the regime’s scope limited.
The book gives comprehensive knowledge to the readers about nuclear security dynamics, nuclear disarmament measures, nonproliferation treaties, and the NPT regime with a focus on the South Asian region. This book is written in very simple language, and it explains the issues very straightforwardly, making it a good choice for many readers. Having a military background and expertise in arms control and nuclear studies, the author has shown an excellent grip on the subject matter. The South Asian region is prone to war due to inherent ideological and political differences between India and Pakistan.
The author has thrown light on the approaches of Pakistan and India’s policies and their trust deficit that has led to the security dilemma in the region and the nuclear arms race. The book is based on extensive research, and it covers all the challenges and complexities faced by the global community in nuclear warfare. The book is divided into eight chapters that have inclusively explained proliferation perplex, states’ intentions to go nuclear, NPT’s shortcomings due to its non-international nature and political biases, and a regional nonproliferation regime as the proposal to current issues faced by the NPT regime.
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Tasmia Iman is an MPhil scholar in International Relations at the National Defence University, Islamabad. Her research focuses on South Asia, with a special interest in security studies, climate change, and environmental diplomacy.