In April, a Belfer Center delegation met with former Pakistani nuclear officials in Istanbul, marking the start of a track 1.5 dialogue. 

In this Project on Managing the Atom Discussion Paper, Mansoor Ahmed examines India’s fissile material production capacity and the military potential of its unsafeguarded nuclear fuel cycle and energy program.

The flight-testing of the 60-kilometer (or 37-mile) Hatf-IX, or Nasr, ballistic missile in April 2011 has renewed controversy and debate about strategic stability and nuclear weapons in South Asia. Official statements issued by Pakistan’s Inter Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR) claim that the Nasr was developed “to add deterrence value to Pakistan’s Strategic Weapons Development programme at shorter ranges.” The Nasr could carry “nuclear warheads of appropriate yield with high accuracy,” and had shoot-and-scoot attributes—essentially a “quick response system” that addressed “the need to deter evolving threats.”

"In a complete volte-face the nuclear supplier states that created the NSG (then the London Group) in 1975 due to proliferation concerns raised by India's perfidy are contemplating its inclusion. Paradoxically, that sounds like a death knell of the NSG and the non-proliferation regime."

"In the second nuclear age, no less than the first, there are no realistic prospects for banning multiple-warhead missiles. China has started to deploy such missiles, and India and Pakistan are likely to cross this threshold as well. The motivations behind these steps will determine how extensively nuclear arsenals will grow and how pernicious the effects of stockpile growth will become. Success in dampening the negative repercussions of multiple-warhead missiles will rest on two foundations. The first is improved bilateral relations among the contestants. One of the responsibilities of states that possess nuclear weapons is to pursue nuclear risk reduction measures (NRRMs) with other nuclear-armed states, especially those with which they have previously fought wars. By this yardstick, China, India, and Pakistan can be found wanting..."

"Strategic competition between Pakistan and India is intensifying. Both countries have now entered into a phase of modernization and expansion of their respective strategic forces, reflecting significant investments in strategic programs. Their fissile material production capacities have grown substantially and they have inducted a plethora of new delivery systems. Both are in the process of fielding nuclear triads. Technological advancements are underway in: modern combat aircraft and air defense capabilities; cruise and ballistic missiles; sea-based deterrents; tactical nuclear weapons (TNWs); ballistic missile defense (BMD); and multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs). India and Pakistan now possess more new types of nuclear weapon delivery vehicles than the United States..."