This article analyses India’s nuclear strategy of Credible Minimum Deterrence from a realistic perspective. Under the Realist school of thought. The study demonstrates that the logic of defensive realism can explain India’s commitment to Credible Minimal Deterrence. The study seeks to answer the following questions: What is understood by the nuclear strategy and its two key components, deterrence and proliferation? How do nuclear weapons fit into the framework of a structural neo-realist thinker such as Kenneth Waltz? What is India’s Credible Minimum Nuclear Deterrence doctrine and how does it relate to Waltz’s defensive realism? It is concluded that India’s nuclear doctrine shows how defensive realism influences and shapes current policy debates over nuclear weapons.
