National resolve to maintain full spectrum deterrence

612

Since its inception, Pakistan’s nuclear programme has on again/off again been entangled in proposals contrived by the US. First it was called roll back, then revised highly enriched uranium (HEU) and now normalising its nuclear programme. Pragmatically, the term ‘normal nuclear’ sounds paradoxical, understandable yet lacking in a profound and theoretical definition. Consequently, the status of ‘normal nuclear state’ is codified rather than conditionally allotted. Lately, this modish term has been associated with Pakistan after a new report, ‘A normal nuclear Pakistan’, appeared, co-authored by Michael Krepon and Toby Dalton of the Stimson Centre and Carnegie Endowment simultaneously.