Knowledge Partner
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist
Image 3 : Lt Gen AAK Niazi of Pakistan signing the Instrument of Surrender under the gaze of Lt Gen JS Aurora on 16 December 1971 marking the end of the bloody Bangladesh LiberaLon War between Indian and Pakistan forces
For countries like India , the most important need is to ensure that the nuclear danger does not become even more hazardous and that exis @ ng safeguards against the nuclear threat remain in place . issues and fresh challenges . The strengthening of rela * ons between China and Pakistan has obvious strategic consequences so far as India is concerned , as has China ’ s enhanced ac * vity in areas around India and its steadily enlarging mari * me ambi * ons . Others in the region beside India feel similarly compelled to re-assess the changing strategic situa * on and explore what could be their common interest in these developments . Timely response can be an important aspect of the ‘ conflict diplomacy ’ we are discussing . safeguards against the nuclear threat remain in place . It is to their credit that in the midst of all their bilateral differences India and Pakistan have established suitable procedures to keep their respec * ve nuclear weapons under agreed controls , and these agreements have not been affected by the vagaries of the bilateral rela * onship — neither side has sought to tamper with the agreement on nuclear maQers ajer it was framed several years ago . It is a sober and well-crajed agreement that addresses the rock boQom , irreducible interests of the two par * es of survival in a hazardous era , which is where any disquisi * on on conflict diplomacy should rightly lead .
Another important feature of the situa * on in South Asia , and now also in the Far East , is the consequence of military nuclearisa * on . The military conflicts of an earlier era did not involve the threat of nuclear weapons but the situa * on is now more dangerous owing to the spread of nuclear weapons , and the readiness of some regional and non-regional powers to brandish them . For countries like India , the most important need is to ensure that the nuclear danger does not become even more hazardous and that exis * ng
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