Pakistan warns India that it could review its deployment options to restore the strategic balance in South Asia, saying New Delhi is moving toward a more prepared nuclear posture that could involve first use. Khalid Kidwai, an adviser to the National Command Authority (NCA), the body that oversees Pakistan's nuclear weapons, made the remarks on Tuesday at the second Islamabad Non-Proliferation Conference. The event was hosted by the Strategic Vision Institute, an Islamabad-based think tank that works on strategic issues.
Kidwai said Pakistan "never has and never will" accept strategic imbalances being created in South Asia. He said Pakistan would review and reconsider all options for deployments while keeping its policy of strategic ambiguity, meaning it does not publicly spell out how it would respond to an attack.
Reported submarine deployment at the centre of concern
Kidwai and retired Lt Gen Sarfraz Sattar, both former heads of the Strategic Plans Division and advisers to the NCA, pointed to reports that India had deployed around 12 nuclear warheads on a submarine for deterrence patrols. Citing the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Yearbook 2026 and other public information, they said the reported deployment, along with missile modernisation and recent military confrontations, raised the risk of escalation between the two neighbours.
Kidwai said the reports suggested India had combined warheads with submarine-launched ballistic missiles and begun sea-based deterrence patrols. He also said India's ability to keep an at-sea deterrent running weakened the credibility of its No-First-Use policy, a pledge not to be the first to use nuclear weapons. "I do not see any reason as to why an SIPRI report might be inaccurate or speculative," he said.
Pakistan warns India of miscalculation risk
Sattar said the May 2025 conflict showed how quickly conventional hostilities could escalate, with both sides using cruise and ballistic missiles before a ceasefire. He said that fighting was more lethal than the February 2019 confrontation, and that it involved kamikaze drones, supersonic BrahMos missiles and cyber and electronic warfare. He warned that the fighting could spiral toward nuclear escalation through accident or miscalculation.
Sattar also pointed to India's canisterisation of missiles, multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) technology, hypersonic weapons and autonomous platforms. He linked these to Cold Start, an Indian military doctrine for rapid limited operations, and said that, together with the absence of a bilateral arms control mechanism, they raised doubts about India's No-First-Use declaration.
What Pakistan has said it will do
Kidwai said Pakistan reserves the right to take all appropriate measures to safeguard its national security and preserve the strategic balance. He urged India to "read and re-read" Pakistan's Full Spectrum Deterrence policy and to consider its wide-ranging implications for deterrence and stability. The speakers framed their remarks as a warning and a stated intention to review options, not as an announced change in deployments.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Pakistan ne bharat ko khabardar kiya hai ke wo South Asia mein strategic balance badalne ki koshish na kare. NCA ke adviser Khalid Kidwai ke mutabiq, Pakistan apne deployment options par dobara ghor kar sakta hai. Bharat ki kathit submarine tainaati se nuclear khatre ka khadsha barh gaya hai, is liye ye bayan ahem hai. Abhi tak ye sirf warning aur review ka elan hai, aam shehri ke liye koi fori tabdeeli nahi batayi gayi.
