India’s Acquisition of MIRVs: Destabilizing the Strategic Stability of South Asia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62843/jrsr/2025.4b106Keywords:
Multiple Independently-Targetable Re-entry Vehicles (MIRVs), Arms Race, India, Pakistan, South AsiaAbstract
India’s acquisition of Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) capability and its integration into the Agni-V Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) series reveals a significant shift in the South Asia’s strategic landscape. This particular development not only undermines strategic stability but also intensifies the prevailing security dilemma, potentially accelerating an arms race between India and Pakistan in the region. Analysed through the theoretical frameworks of the Spiral Model and Security Dilemma of Arms Race, this study investigates how India’s MIRV capability exacerbates the threat perception and contributes to the sophisticated security dynamics of South Asia. Moreover, this paper presents the rationalization of MIRVs debate in the hostile South Asian context and its implications on the arms race stability. This paper proposes prospective Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs), with a particular focus on Nuclear CBMs, as mechanisms to mitigate escalatory risks. By placing MIRVs technology within the broader South Asian strategic context, this research paper contributes to the existing literature by highlighting its destabilizing implications and the critical need for cooperative security measures.
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