Leadership, Strategy and Norms: A Study of India’s No First Use Policy of Nuclear Weapons

Abstract

India framed a draft nuclear doctrine in 1999 and the official nuclear doctrine in 2003. Both these documents highlighted with certain variations that India would adhere to a No First Use (NFU) policy of nuclear weapons. This thesis seeks to explore the rationale behind the NFU policy of India. It examines the probable factors: actors, strategy, and norms that may have influenced India’s decision to adopt the NFU policy in its nuclear doctrine.