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On April 17, at a campaign rally, Modi touted that India had called Pakistan’s nuclear bluff. It’s unclear if the prime minister was referring to a specific weapon. “Earlier, terrorists from Pakistan would come here and go back after conducting an attack. Pakistan would threaten us, saying it has the nuclear bomb and will press the button,” Modi said, underscoring what had long been a dilemma for India, whose conventionally superiority was undermined by Pakistan’s development of low-yield nuclear weapons in particular. “We have nuclear of nuclear bombs,” Modi said, intending to highlight India’s capabilities. “I decided to tell them, do whatever you want to do,” Modi added, promising that India would retaliate.

On April 20, at a separate rally, Modi returned to the theme: “Every other day, they used to say ‘we have nuclear button, we have nuclear button.’ What do we have then? Have we kept it for Diwali? (A Hindu holiday traditionally involving lights and firecrackers.)” Modi also discussed the events of February 26 and 27, when India and Pakistan nearly went to war. ……

The context of Modi’s remarks on nuclear weapons — election rallies — matter, of course. With a poor economic track record since 2014, the BJP has rightly decided to focus on what much of the Indian public perceives as a strength: its management of national security and defense. Within India, the decision by Modi to retaliate using conventional air power into Pakistani territory after the February 14 Pulwama attack was widely popular. But utterances on nuclear weapons do not take place in a vacuum and Modi’s remarks will be heard across the world.

Pakistan has already seized on the opportunity to chide India for Modi’s comments. A Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman released a statement on Monday noting that “Pakistan considers these remarks as highly unfortunate and irresponsible.” “Such rhetoric for short-term political and electoral gains, with complete disregard to its effects on strategic stability in South Asia is regrettable and against norms of responsible nuclear behaviour,” the statement added. https://thediplomat.com/2019/04/at-indian-general-election-rallies-modi-beats-the-nuclear-drums/