Just because you say you will do something doesn't mean you will, remember those so called "surgical strikes"? It's merely an attempt to intimidate Pakistan so we don't use tactical nukes. We will call your bluff if you push us into a situation where we have no other option, and I doubt you will start nuking Pakistan over tactical nukes, it would be unnecessarily shooting yourself in the foot. Even if you did, we will do the same to you.
This is exactly why you won't use tac nukes on us. A limited war will stay short and limited, because the alternative is total war, with full use of nukes. These are the only two choices we are giving you.
So if you have fooled yourself into believing you will escape nuclear retribution simply because you used only tac nukes on your soil, then you are sorely mistaken. You are simply giving the excuse for India to retaliate with an all out nuclear strike first.
Of course, there will be an escalation matrix even for us, but I don't believe it will survive contact with the enemy.
The PM is only saying such things because tactical nukes are highly frowned upon, the fact is we have tactical nukes. Nasr is clear proof of this. If you are really going to use mere words as proof, then by that logic Israel has no nuclear weapons since they deny having them as well. He also still said Pakistan has short ranged nuclear missiles to counter your Cold Start doctrine.
The difference between a tac and a strat nukes is the deployment. The IA even has access to nukes on artillery shells, but it's under the control of the SFC, not the IA. The idea behind tac nukes is the ability to use it immediately during a battle, without any warning. If you have the so-called "tac nukes" are stored safely away under central control and not under the command of field commanders, then it's not a tac nuke.
If BMD truly worked, yes they would. After all, if BMD worked they'd have nothing to fear if they have the conventional upper hand. Politics plays a role too, but so does BMD (assuming it even works, which I highly doubt).
No chance. BMD is too expensive and non-nuclear nations will not spend money at it in the first place. You already see how badly the Americans are reacting to the S-400 sales. And most of it has nothing to do with Russia in the first place. They have seen it in action in Syria and really fear it.
Even non-nuclear nations will never take a risk antagonising a nuclear nation simply because nuclear nations have powerful armies that can enter cities at will and blow that city up with a nuke transported to the area in a truck. BMDs can also be vulnerable to fighter jets.
You are confusing protecting a city or a base with protecting an entire country with BMD. Just because you have BMD doesn't mean you are invulnerable. You will still have undefended areas. Even a country like India will have many towns and cities that will remain unprotected from a concentrated attack. So if your attacks on Delhi and Mumbai fail, you can still attack cities like Jaipur and Ludhiana. If the attacks on Jaipur and Ludhiana fail, then you can attack Amritsar and Jodhpur. So there is always something still available at any one time and this is a big problem for non-nuclear nations because they can't fight back.
Iran challenges Israel because Israel is tiny. You don't need nukes to wipe them out, a decent number of regular missiles will cause enough damage to make them back down. Even if you don't think that's the case, Iran still doesn't count since they have not engaged in direct warfare with Israel, even after Israel has bombed their positions in Syria.
All of China's conventional missiles and artillery cannot destroy Taiwan, think about that first.
MAD does exist and is exactly what will happen if nuclear war starts between Pakistan and Hindustan. Nukes do more than just make big explosions, they have terrible after effects like radiation. Hindustan will lose hundreds of millions of people and have plenty of its land uninhabitable for quite some time.
The terrible after-effects of nukes "that you have in mind" were made up.
Nukes kill people at points of impact, and then some. Then there will be many who survive but are irradiated and may die at a later date. Some may become sterile and some may develop cancer. But those who escape these conditions will comfortably live a long and healthy life.
The effects of fallout have been exaggerated as well, and so has this "Nuclear Winter" story.
Which is why I've said there is unlikely to ever be a war, if the US doesn't have such an advantage over Russia (despite spending 600 billion USD on its military whilst Russia spends less than 50 billion USD), then Hindustan will not obtain such an advantage either for the forseeable future. It's almost guaranteed that we will be able to screw you up bad if you ever launch a mass invasion of Pakistan. We won't quite be able to conquer you for another 1000 years, but being able to make you bleed is sufficient.
The US defence expenditure is not as big as you think. They need more. Markets determine size. The difference between a dollar in Russia and dollar in the US is 3.5. That means the US needs $3.5 to match $1 in Russia. So if the US has a $600B budget, then the Russians can match it if their budget is $171B.
Similarly, the difference between the US and China is 2:1. The Chinese need a $300B budget to match the American budget of $600B.
Of course, once you remove personnel from the equation, the difference increases even more, because the Americans spend over $200B on pay and perks alone, which has nothing to do with warfighting.
But the ratio between India and Pakistan is 1:1. The $ has equal value in both countries and will remain so for many decades.
India will comfortably gain this advantage in just a decade in fact. We already have this advantage at sea, you obviously cannot dispute that. And we recently got this advantage in the air a few years ago and the difference will only get bigger over the next few years. I am talking about a huge advantage, like the one the IN have over the PN. Now the only service wing left is the army. The IA believes they will be "ready to fight" after 2025. In other words, the IA will gain an insurmountable advantage over Pakistan after 2025.