Abstract
The development of new technologies and their use for military means has narrowed the gap between the technologically advanced and less developed countries.1 This may have disturbed the traditional balance of power with greater prospects of conflict between states with asymmetric military potential, besides increasing the risks of conventional and nuclear entanglement.2 The dangers are more pronounced in South Asia where growing conventional disparity coupled with new war fighting doctrines continue to strain strategic stability, thus making it imperative for the other side to strengthen its ‘cross domain’ deterrence posture.3 India’s recent test of Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV),4 which apparently aims to build its credentials of a technologically advanced country; once operationalised, would proffer an option of a preemptive conventional counterforce strike against Pakistan’s short range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) – to deter Pakistan from the early deployment of its SRBMs and to create space for India’s limited war fighting doctrine of ‘Cold Start.’ In response, Pakistan is likely to develop countermeasures that could ensure the integrity of its Full Spectrum Deterrence (FSD) posture. This action-reaction syndrome could trigger a new arms race with increased risks of miscalculation in a future military crisis between the two nuclear armed states. This paper aims to discuss he ongoing global developments in the field of hypersonic weapons; its implications for strategic stability in South Asia; and Pakistan’s likely response options.
Keyword(s)
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Notice
Message: Undefined variable: pub_keywords
Filename: front/publication.php
Line Number: 77
Backtrace:
File: /home/prdbpk/public_html/application/views/front/publication.php
Line: 77
Function: _error_handler
File: /home/prdbpk/public_html/application/controllers/Front.php
Line: 221
Function: view
File: /home/prdbpk/public_html/index.php
Line: 315
Function: require_once
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: Invalid argument supplied for foreach()
Filename: front/publication.php
Line Number: 77
Backtrace:
File: /home/prdbpk/public_html/application/views/front/publication.php
Line: 77
Function: _error_handler
File: /home/prdbpk/public_html/application/controllers/Front.php
Line: 221
Function: view
File: /home/prdbpk/public_html/index.php
Line: 315
Function: require_once
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Notice
Message: Undefined variable: pub_info
Filename: front/publication.php
Line Number: 84
Backtrace:
File: /home/prdbpk/public_html/application/views/front/publication.php
Line: 84
Function: _error_handler
File: /home/prdbpk/public_html/application/controllers/Front.php
Line: 221
Function: view
File: /home/prdbpk/public_html/index.php
Line: 315
Function: require_once