{"id":1532722,"date":"2025-04-27T18:35:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-27T22:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1532722"},"modified":"2025-04-27T18:35:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T22:35:00","slug":"what-is-the-risk-of-nuclear-war-between-india-and-pakistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/what-is-the-risk-of-nuclear-war-between-india-and-pakistan\/1532722\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is The Risk Of Nuclear War Between India And Pakistan?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden\">What Is The Risk Of Nuclear War Between India And Pakistan?<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item\">\n<p>Hostilities between India and Pakistan have intensified after a deadly militant attack in the contested Kashmir region killed twenty-six people. New Delhi has blamed its neighbor for the attack, but Islamabad has denied any involvement.\u00a0 The incident has sparked a series of smaller military engagements along the Indian border and the Indian government has ordered all Pakistani visitors in India to leave by April 29th.\u00a0 It has also threatened to block or divert water supplies from the Indus River system, which support 80% of Pakistan&#8217;s agriculture. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Indus Water Treaty \u2013 which was brokered by the World Bank in September 1960 \u2013 determined the rights and obligations of Pakistan and India concerning the use of waters of the Indus River system. The agreement has stood the test of time and has long been hailed as a rare example of cooperation between the two ideologically opposed nations.\u00a0 India&#8217;s unilateral suspension of the treaty is being called an &#8220;act of war&#8221; by Pakistan.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Geopolitical strategists say the move &#8220;calculated&#8221; &#8211; Any diversion of Pakistan&#8217;s water supply could trigger famine and civil unrest in the already unstable region.\u00a0 Internal strife has been simmering after Pakistan&#8217;s current government arrested former Prime Minister Imran Khan on charges of corruption.\u00a0 The arrest, perhaps not coincidentally, was executed not long after Khan accused a high-ranking Inter Service Intelligence official of planning an assassination attempt<\/p>\n<p>Khan&#8217;s arrest led to 2023 Pakistani protests by his supporters throughout the country.\u00a0 The nation has been in political turmoil ever since, on top of an already crushing inflation crisis.\u00a0 Loss of water resources would likely send the country into immediate collapse.\u00a0 While India does not have the infrastructure to block the rivers completely, they do have the ability to greatly reduce the flows to Pakistan, or divert much of the water to storage areas.\u00a0 They have also threatened to stop sharing vital flow data that could lead to a lack of flood warnings, thus destroying large swaths of farmland.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cms.zerohedge.com\/s3\/files\/inline-images\/paknuke1.jpg?itok=wT-BLucG\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The existential threat this development represents to the Pakistani government opens the door to otherwise unthinkable retaliation.\u00a0 Nukes are indeed on the table.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/tribune.com.pk\/story\/2542135\/pakistan-could-use-nukes-to-secure-its-water-share-analysts\">Analysts say<\/a> Pakistan&#8217;s use of phrase &#8220;complete spectrum of national power means Pakistan can go to any limit, including the use of nuclear weapons.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>At the very least, Pakistan&#8217;s military will not hesitate to strike any infrastructure used by India to stem the water from the Indus rivers.\u00a0 Another factor that does not bode well is India&#8217;s overt superiority in terms of military power.\u00a0 India&#8217;s active military and reserve forces are twice the size of Pakistan&#8217;s.\u00a0 They have twice the air power, twice the tanks, a far larger navy which boasts a number of nuclear submarines.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The strength difference might compel Pakistan to use nukes immediately as a way to even the fight, or ensure the mutual destruction of India in a war Pakistan knows it will lose.\u00a0 In other words, the risk of a nuclear exchange is extraordinarily high.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Pakistan is estimate to control at least 170 nuclear weapons of various yields.\u00a0 All of them have a range of under 2000 miles, but they are more than enough to wipe out all of India&#8217;s major population centers.\u00a0 Pakistan also has a &#8220;first use&#8221; policy; they hold that any war with a nuclear armed opponent means they have the option to fire nukes first.<\/p>\n<p>India&#8217;s arsenal is comparable, with at least 164 nuclear weapons, though many have a larger yield and greater range.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cms.zerohedge.com\/s3\/files\/inline-images\/India-Pakistannuke1.jpg?itok=8tNTSZzm\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A nuclear exchange or full blown war also risks the potential involvement of nuclear armed China.\u00a0 China and Pakistan have increased defense ties over the years.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mfa.gov.cn\/eng\/xw\/zyxw\/202502\/t20250206_11550159.html\">In February<\/a>, China &#8220;reiterated its firm support for Pakistan in defending its national sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity, and its support for Pakistan\u2019s efforts to safeguard national security, stability, development and prosperity&#8221;.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The three countries together represent around half the human population of the Earth.\u00a0 Radioactive fallout would do damage to the majority of the South Pacific.\u00a0 While theories of a &#8220;nuclear winter&#8221; are overblown and radioactive fallout from weapons generally dissipates to safe levels within three weeks according to US military studies, the effects on the global economy and food supplies in the East would be devastating, leading to a long term international crisis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>      <span class=\"field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden\"><a title=\"View user profile.\" href=\"https:\/\/cms.zerohedge.com\/users\/tyler-durden\" class=\"username\">Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden\">Sun, 04\/27\/2025 &#8211; 14:35<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/geopolitical\/what-risk-nuclear-war-between-india-and-pakistan\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">https:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/geopolitical\/what-risk-nuclear-war-between-india-and-pakistan<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Is The Risk Of Nuclear War Between India And Pakistan? Hostilities between India and Pakistan have intensified after a deadly militant attack in the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1532723,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1532722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1532722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1532722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1532722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1532723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1532722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1532722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1532722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}