Emerging from the Shadows

Manpreet Sethi is Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi, India, and heads its programme on nuclear issues. She is also Senior Research Advisor at the Asia Pacific Leadership Network. Since receiving her doctorate (1997), she has worked on nuclear energy, strategy and disarmament. She is a member of Science and Security Board, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and International Group of Eminent Persons on Nuclear Disarmament. She is recipient of K Subrahmanyam award (2014), and Commendations by Chief of Air Staff (2020) and Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Forces Command (2022)Kanica Rakhra is Assistant Professor at the Kautilya School of Public Policy, Hyderabad, India, where she teaches international relations and global affairs. Prior to this, she was working in India’s G20 Secretariat during India’s G20 Presidency. She has also worked with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) at its Policy Planning and Research Division (2016–2017) and at the Disarmament and International Security Affairs (D&ISA) Division (2017–2021). She is member of Executive Council of Women in Nuclear—India.

‘In this unique volume, an impressive group of Indian experts, women all, charts the course for pursuing new controls on weapons of mass destruction. The world’s uncertain geopolitical environment makes their contribution both timely and very welcome.’—Rose Gottemoeller, Former Deputy Secretary General, NATO; Distinguished lecturer, Stanford University‘Nuclear strategy and policy have for too long been a male dominated field. Manpreet Sethi and Kanica Rakhra have opened the doors wide to knowledgeable and sober expertise from highly regarded Indian women specialists. This important collection underscores the urgency of nuclear disarmament to global peace and security.’—Dr. Sanjay Baru, Public Policy Analyst; former media adviser to PM Manmohan Singh‘Given the increasing nuclear risks in contemporary times, disarmament today is as critical as it is elusive. The book explores several inter-connected issues of nuclear energy, proliferation, confidence building, risk reduction, and verification to explore how, and why, policy makers should pursue elimination of nuclear weapons. Bringing together a unique and novel approach, this book is sure a worth a read.—Tanya Ogilvie-White, Senior Research Advisor, Asia-Pacific Leadership Network‘Highly commended. This brilliant collection of essays on issues relating to nuclear disarmament is exceptional as it shows the immense talent that there is in India amongst the community of women scholars and practitioners in this vital field. Bringing them together in this must-read volume, the first of its kind, Dr Manpreet Sethi and Dr Kanica Rakhra have done well in highlighting what must be done to address the critical nuclear dangers in the 21st century.’—Amb. Venkatesh Varma, Former Indian Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament

• List of Contributors xi Foreword by Meenakshi Gopinath xiii Acknowledgements xxiii Glossary xxiv 1 Introduction: The Disarmament Question and Indian Women 1 MANPREET SETHI AND KANICA RAKHRA 2 Negotiating Disarmament in the CD 10 SUJATA MEHTA 3 Confidence Building Measures, Nuclear Disarmament, and Foreign Policy 19 TANVI KULKARNI AND RUHEE NEOG 4 Disarmament through the Path of Nuclear Risk Reduction 34 KANICA RAKHRA 5 Nuclear Disarmament Verification: Roadblocks in Implementation 49 RESHMI KAZI 6 Quo Vadis? Nuclear Developments and Trends in the Middle East 73 ADITI MALHOTRA 7 Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament: An Intertwined Pursuit 96 RISHIKA CHAUHAN 8 The Evolution of the Nuclear Energy Market and Its Impact on Non-Proliferation and Disarmament 109 NIHARIKA TAGOTRA 9 Biosecurity in WMD: Future of Disarmament 126 LAKSHMI M. PURI 10 Mapping India’s Commitment towards the WPS Agenda 140 SMITA SINGH 11 Nuclear Disarmament: Can India Help the World Move towards the Elusive Goal? Should It? 155 MANPREET SETHI Index 168