India's N-power: Bonafide or notional?

New Delhi: After its hell-raising big bang at Pokhran, India's journey down the nuclear road has been a bit of an anti-climax. Turning pacifist, it voluntarily imposed a moratorium on further testing of nuclear devices.

As against a reported 1,000 tests by the US, 800 by Russia and 75 by China, India declared itself a state with nuclear weapons on the strength of just six tests. The proven yield of its nuclear bombs is merely 20 kilo tons.

In comparison, the destructive potential of the Chinese standard bomb is hundreds of times stronger at 3.3 mega tons.

And with the Agni intermediate range ballistic missiles being its most assured delivery system, India's range limitations are also obvious.

So, is India a bonafide nuclear power or only a notional one? Even the man who wrote India's nuclear doctrine is of the view that its deterrence capability is short on credibility.

"We didn't go about it professionally. You can say that our deterrence capability is less than what it should be," says Strategic Affairs Expert K Subrahmanyam.

The credibility gap may have been further widened by the long time being taken to integrate nuclear weapons into military force structures.

Hawks point out that that a half-hearted approach to being a nuclear power will not give India any geopolitical advantage.

Instead, they warn that a mere symbolic capability is a liability because of which India could end up getting hit harder by potential nuclear adversaries.

"For us to start acting as if we're a nuclear weapons state may have it costs, because someone may end up believing you. And, as I say, if someone believes that you're a threat, then he may be moved to take some pre-epmtive action," says Strategic Affairs Analyst Bharat Karnad.

For someone who gate-crashed into the nuclear club, India is a remarkably reluctant nuclear power. Time and again, it has demonstrated the responsibility that comes that comes with being a nuclear weapons power.

But it's about India's second strike capability that the world needs to be more convinced about.