PM Modi announces that India has completed its “nuclear triad” — nuclear sub INS Arihant goes operational.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday announced that India has completed its “nuclear triad” — the ability to fire nuclear missiles from land, sky and from undersea.
He also said the submarine that completed the triad — INS Arihant — had returned from its first deterrence patrol. He did not say where the Arihant was deployed.
“Dhanteras gets even more special!” Modi said in a tweet Monday afternoon.
“India’s pride, nuclear submarine INS Arihant successfully completed its first deterrence patrol! I congratulate all those involved, especially the crew of INS Arihant for this accomplishment, which will always be remembered in our history.”
He posted pictures of himself with the crew, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
What is INS Arihant?
The INS Arihant is a strategic asset that reports to the Prime Minister, who is at the apex of the Nuclear Command Authority. It is crewed by the Indian Navy. This is the first time its operational deployment was announced.
In 2009, then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s wife Gursharan Kaur had “launched” the submarine. It was quietly commissioned in August last year.
“The submarine recently returned from its first deterrence patrol, completing the establishment of the country’s survivable muclear triad,” the PMO said in a statement.
India’s nuclear doctrine of ‘no first use’ presupposes that the country will be able to unleash a massive second attack after surviving the first. Such a policy means that the security apparatus has to have the technological platform that can conceal and fire nuclear weapons.
The Arihant is the first and only such platform. India plans to build three more Arihant-class submarines.
Also read: Indian Navy gets $600 million machines to make breathing easy in nuclear submarines
Significance
Today’s development “puts India among a handful of countries having the capability to design, construct and operate SSBNs (sub surface ballistic nuclear),” the PM said.
He added that the people of India aspire for a “Shaktimaan Bharat” (strong India).
“He expressed the hope that just as light dispels darkness and all fear, INS Arihant will be the harbinger of fearlessness in the country,” the PMO statement read.
“As a responsible nation, India has put in place a robust Nuclear Command Authority. It remains committed to the doctrine of credible minimum deterrence and no first use,” added the statement.
SSBNs was explained as sub submersible ballistic nuclear. It has been corrected to sub surface ballistic nuclear. The error is regretted.