Delhi turns N-powder keg, missiles at doorstep

EXPLOSIVE DETAILS: Experts say any military base housing strategic weapons could invite N-warfare to its threshold.

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New Delhi: The Capital has acquired a new distinction that they could have done without. Delhi now has nuclear-capable missiles positioned at its doorsteps. The Hindon airbase, on the city's outskirts, has been determined as the peacetime location for the Prithvi-II missiles.

However, the move has astounded keen observers of strategic affairs.

“To the extent possible you do not locate strategic assets either near the National Capital or in the vicinity of high-density population centres. This is the broad principle,” Strategic Affairs analyst, Uday Bhaskar explained.

The concern is that any military base known to house strategic weapons could invite nuclear warfare to its threshold, and places in its vicinity could become more vulnerable and end up getting hit harder.

So, would the decision to base the nuclear-capable Prithvi missiles at the Hindon airbase, literally a stone's throw from the Capital, increase the possibility of Delhi being made the target of a nuclear attack by an adversary?

“I have no comment on this as this is not my function. This is the function of the Strategic Forces Command. So, they must have deliberated on it and they must have got their own priorities regarding this matter,” Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Air Command, Air Marshal PS Ahluwalia said.

But the problem is created by the difference in the postures of India and the other powers in the region. Others do not share India's commitment to ‘No First Use’ of nuclear weapons and pre-emptive strikes to destroy a rival's nuclear arsenal are central to any first strike.

“Yes, I think it would be fair to infer that the chances that Delhi might be targeted would increase,” Bhaskar said.

The Prithvi is slated to be displayed at the Hindon airbase during the Air Force Day Parade on Monday. India's inexperience may also get paraded in the process.