About the Book

‘No nation debated more democratically than India on whether to get or give up nuclear power guns,’ writes George Perkovich, renowned American political scientist. Right from 1948, when the Atomic Energy Commission was established to the peaceful nuclear explosion in 1974, to Operation Shakti in 1998 when India went overtly nuclear, and then the Indo–US Civil nuclear agreement in 2005, every step was arrived at after much debate and deliberation. Rejecting discriminatory treaties like the NPT, taking a firm stand on the nuclear deterrence theory and standing up to superpowers despite heavy sanctions paved the way for India’s nuclear exceptionalism, thereby revealing not only the astounding brilliance and capability of the leaders and thinkers in the field but also India’s strong moral and ethical value system, which has played a major role in all its decisions. The book, India’s Nuclear Titans, traces the evolution of India into a nuclear state while analysing the role played by stalwarts like Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai, Abdul Kalam, Indira Gandhi, K Subrahmanyam, and Arundhati Ghose among others. Through interesting anecdotes from the lives of these great personalities, the book aims to give a brief but complete picture of India’s nuclear story.

About the Author

Soumya Awasthi is a Consultant with the Tony Blair Foundation. Previously she was an Associate Fellow at the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), New Delhi. Earlier, she has worked with Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence and Strategic Analyses (MP-IDSA), New Delhi. She has also worked as a Fellow at Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research (CAFHR) in United Service Institution, New Delhi and Centre for United Nations Peacekeeping Organization, New Delhi. Her research interests include Counter Terrorism, De-radicalization, South Asian strategic studies, India’s defence and strategic policy, and Afghanistan. She is particularly interested in the Deoband School of Islam in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Her PhD is from the Centre for International Politics, Organization, and Disarmament (CIPOD) at School of International Studies (SIS) in Jawaharlal Nehru University on the subject ‘Role of Religious Discourse in Regional and Global Geopolitics: Case Study of Deoband Philosophy in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan’. She has completed her MPhil on the topic ‘Defence Budget of India from 1947 till 2015: A Trend Analysis’ in the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies at the Savitribai Phule Pune University, Maharashtra. Her work and views have been published in several national and international forums.

Shrabana Barua is a Research Fellow at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), Sapru House, New Delhi. She is also a Visiting Fellow at NIICE, Kathmandu. Her research focuses on geopolitics of South and Southeast Asia, particularly Pakistan, China, India and Myanmar. Her PhD is from Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament (CIPOD), School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Political Science from Hindu College, University of Delhi. Earlier, she worked with Gateway House, Mumbai. She has published several articles and book reviews in reputed journals and presented papers at national and international conferences. She writes regularly for the Hindustan Times on global politics.