20.1 The Strategic and Legal Dimensions of India’s Nuclear No-First-Use Policy

Close to half-a-century after China declared its intention to pursue a policy of nuclear no-first-use (NFU), the idea that a nuclear weapon state (NWS) can commit to abstain from using nuclear weapons first during a conflict is yet to come of age. Consequently, the then superpowers also began espousing what was termed as ‘conditional’ no-first-use…