Assessing Nonproliferation and Disarmament Challenges and South Asian Regional Security Complexity

The study aims to undertake an analysis of trends in International Nuclear Order in the context of regional challenges and their impact on Non-Proliferation approaches. In the prevailing elusive nuclear order, the regional and international strategic environment is evolving. The assessment will look in these factors; the role of strategic alliances, treaties, regime type and norms play in nuclear state affairs and its position in global nuclear order. The states that have major role in defining direction of nuclear order are Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Pakistan, Japan, Russia, US and North Korea are particularly important. The prominent mediums of Nuclear order include the United Nations; the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); the UN Conference on Disarmament; Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conferences; the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), and multilateral export control regime. The existing order is in flux: there is progress in arms control measures and no progress towards disarmament by nuclear weapons states. It is complicated by disagreements among states about disarmament and nonproliferation priorities, regional security complexity which contributes to proliferation concerns and enhances the contours of nuclear deterrence, and questions related to inclusion of nuclear outlier states into the order. This paper will focus on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament challenges in South Asia. The study will examine three main questions. What are basic assumptions and contours of the global nuclear order? What is happening and why it is happening? How the current nuclear order is influencing South Asia security? It is important due to the implications of nuclear modernization, nuclear cooperation, probable impact of the evolving political events from regional nuclear stability perspective and the viability of prospects for the nuclear latency in future. The latter part will explore possibility of existing or proposed regional mechanism in South Asia for strategic stability. It will also connect dots to assess viable options of non-proliferation regime in the South Asian regional context.