Abstract
Proliferation pessimists argue that the threat of nuclear weapons use between India and Pakistan encompass not only the possibility of these weapons being used deliberately, but also of their inadvertent use. This includes several contingencies, including the possibility of nuclear weapons being used due to inadvertent escalation of conventional military crisis or war, of use without proper authorization from the political leadership, the theft of nuclear weapons by a terrorist group or disgruntled elements within the military, and of nuclear accidents. Several features of the India-Pakistan nuclear dyad add to these dangers: the proximity of the two adversaries, the state of civilmilitary relations (particularly in Pakistan), the nature of the command and control systems in the region and the presumed weaknesses of the safety system on Indian and Pakistani nuclear devices. This essay argues that such arguments overlook the importance of nuclear doctrines in the region, which minimizes the effect of many of these concerns.