Nuclear Weapons Doctrine
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan stated 02 September 2019 that his country is not determined to be the first to resort to a nuclear war with India, amid the ongoing tensions with the country's long-standing neighbouring rival. "We both are nuclear-armed countries. If these tensions increase, the world could be in danger," Khan said addressing members of the Sikh religious community in eastern city of Lahore. "There will be no first from our side ever," he noted, before continuing.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan's Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed warned India of area-specific nuclear attacks with a series of minute atomic bombs. The minister went on to schedule the time for the imminent, according to him, war, arguing the appropriate time for a "final freedom struggle has come", and the war with India will be the "last, this time". he mentioned though the dialogue is possibly provided India takes a step forward resolving the Kashmir issue as per the United Nations resolutions.
Rashid Ahmed claimed Pakistan has "125-250-gram nuclear bombs" at its disposal, which can hit and destroy whatever targets Pakistan pinpoints [Ahmed's description makes no technical sense, although Pakistan surely has kiloton-class low yield tactical nuclear weapons]. He also warned Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to avoid a war that may prove to be the "last" between the two nuclear-armed nations, which have seen a new low in tensions since New Delhi revoked the special status of its part of the disputed Kashmir and Jammu region by amending Article 370.
On 22 November 2008 President Asif Ali Zardari said Pakistan will not be the first to use nuclear weapons, adding that despite their differences, Pakistan and India have a great future together. Zardari said in reply to a question "We shall take Pak-India relationship to a new level," President Asif Ali Zardari said in his video address to the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, broadcast live for the conclave in New Delhi, "I do not feel threatened by India and India should not feel threatened from us," he said. Zardari said, "I am against nuclear warfare altogether." When asked if Pakistan would adopt the policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons, he said, "Most definitely, yes, we hope we will never get into that position (of using nuclear weapons). I am for a South Asian Non-nuclear Treaty. ... I can get my Parliament to agree to it right away," he said. "Can you (India) get your Parliament to agree to it?"
Linking the two was a non-starter in India, and Zardari's comments did not appear to represent a doctrinal change. Former Indian Ambassador to the UN Arundhati Ghose, who played a pivotal role in New Delhi not signing the CTBT, told The Sunday Express, "It seems that it's a general answer and is not a change in the nuclear doctrine of Pakistan's establishment. He is not speaking of no-first-use policy, and by making it dependent on the South Asian treaty, it's rhetoric. This is nothing new."
India, which announced a no-first-use policy soon after the 1998 nuclear tests, had proposed a no-first-use treaty to Pakistan but Islamabad rejected it, saying that its nuclear weapons program was India-specific and it would keep its options open. Pakistan in turn pushed for a South Asian treaty to freeze nuclear weapons in the region. India rejected this, saying it had a wider concerns which includes China.
Pakistan did not have a "No First Use Policy". Pakistani nuclear weapons would be used, according to Director-General Strategic Planning Division (SPD) Lt-General (retd) Khalid Kidwai, only "if the very existence of Pakistan as a state is at stake". This was detailed by Gen. Kidwai as follows:
Nuclear weapons are aimed solely at India. In case that deterrence fails, they will be used if
a. India attacks Pakistan and conquers a large part of its territory (space threshold)
b. India destroys a large part either of its land or air forces (military threshold)
c. India proceeds to the economic strangling of Pakistan (economic strangling)
d. India pushes Pakistan into political destabilization or creates a large scale internal subversion in Pakistan (domestic destabilization)"
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