5: What explains Pakistan’s U-turn on nuclear policy?
Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Pakistan will not be the first to attack were tensions with India over Kashmir to boil over and lead to a war. For a nation that has indulged in nuclear sabre-rattling, some could read this as a softening of stance. Yet, the clarification by the country’s foreign ministry that there is no change in Pakistan’s nuclear policy shows such an interpretation would be a mistake. All that Khan appears to be doing is to strike the right postures ahead of the United Nations general assembly session this month, perhaps as a face-saver after the war hysteria it created failed to draw international support. New Delhi should tread cautiously, lest it ends up misreading the situation.
