Yes, India And Pakistan Could End The World As We Know It Through A Nuclear Exchange
Even a relatively small regional nuclear war could trigger world-wide climatic changes, commonly called “Nuclear Winter,” and other terrible effects.
A series of events starting with a major terrorist attack in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region has pushed India and Pakistan, and their nuclear arsenals, closer to all-out war with each other than they have been in decades. Though the two countries have significantly smaller nuclear stockpiles compared to the United States or Russia, even a limited nuclear exchange between them could lead to health and climatic issues on a global scale, a scenario known as Nuclear Winter, which would end life on the planet as we know it.
We at The War Zone have been following the developments in South Asia closely and you can read our wrap-ups of the past two days of fighting here and here. The precipitating event was an attack by the terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed that involved a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device ramming into a bus carrying Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir, killing 40 and wounding many more.
Read more at http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/26674/yes-india-and-pakistan-could-end-the-world-as-we-know-it-through-a-nuclear-exchange
India, Pakistan, and the remote but real threat of nuclear war
India and Pakistan are currently embroiled in their most serious crisis in several decades. While a nuclear exchange between the two sides is highly unlikely, the possibility nevertheless remains, says Michael Kugelman.
By Michael Kugelman
28.02.2019
For years, it’s been a bedrock principle of international security: Possessing nuclear weapons deters nations from using them in warfare. Indeed, since 1945, no country has used one. However, there’s an important caveat to this: Nuclear weapons may forestall nuclear exchanges, but they don’t deter nuclear states from using military force against each other.
This means that the potential for escalation to nuclear conflict, while remote, is still quite real. There’s no better illustration of this than the India-Pakistan relationship, which is currently embroiled in its most serious crisis in several decades. India and Pakistan fought three major wars before they became nuclear weapons states. But since they achieved formal nuclear status in 1999, they have continued to use limited military force.
They frequently engage in cross-border firing along their disputed frontier, known as the Line of Control. In the 2000s, India staged several limited cross-border raids. In 2016, New Delhi executed what it described as a “surgical strike” — an operation that hit Pakistani terrorist launch pads along the border.
Read more at https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-india-pakistan-and-the-remote-but-real-threat-of-nuclear-war/a-47721752
