Humans are very curious organisms. From discovering the minute electrons to exploring the cast universe – they’ve done it all. And all that come as a result of the curious questions they ask – “what if?”
Similarly, a user on Quora posted a question asking what if Pakistan decided to nuke India. Can India defend itself? And then can India strike back as retaliation?
The answer is yes, India can defend major cities from any Pakistani Nuclear strike but Pakistan cannot defend even Islamabad. India is the fourth country to have successfully developed Anti-ballistic missile systems like the recently tested Agni-I and Agni-IV.
Well, Pakistan would really take the big step against India first only if they want their map to be erased from the world. And that would well be done by India itself moments after the attack.
Once started, the nuclear attack will take no time to turn into a major war, crippling the Pakistani army gradually. Attempts at an armistice or peace will bear no results then, let alone the ceasefire.
India has lost so much in the Pakistani tangle over six decades, including parts of Kashmir, that the government will automatically initiate the final second-strike option without giving it a thought. And India will do that from the seas, air, and land. Our BrahMos missiles are not made just to sit in the museums as showcases!
Pakistan will be baffled figuring out the strategies of Indian forces. India’s Cold Start Doctrine and Exercise Shatrujeet were undertaken for a reason.
Pakistan would be nearly totally wiped out with its urban population nearing to zero. Definitely, India will lose crores too in the war, but we will dust ourselves, get up, and get moving. In another 20 years, we would perhaps be where we were before all of this. And Pakistan would be nowhere on the world map.
Even Pakistan’s allies and sympathisers like America and Russia would be astonished and would at once want to settle all deals with the countries in the region, as it would be utter chaos.
Skirmishes would erupt across the world, and no one would be able to douse the fire for years. The global political system will get rebooted. All assumptions and formats will be reset. A new world will emerge. And that will be without a nation named Pakistan.
Concluding, a first-strike nuclear attack is not a wise idea at all for anyone in the world today, let alone a terror-infested, rogue-generals-controlled, foreign-aid-fed economy like Pakistan. It will breed immense hostility from everyone else in the world, including in Pakistan’s case the supposedly all-weather friend America, who would be very unhappy seeing the carefully-built charade and facade blow apart.
Let’s just hope it never happens. Let peace prevail, let business prevail, let prosperity be our permanent ally.
This article is inspired by this Quora thread.