NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India reserves the right to change its "first strike" policy on the use of nuclear weapons, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday, adding that the future of the policy was conditional.
The minister made the remarks to reporters in Pokhran (northwest), the site where India conducted two nuclear tests years ago.
Singh said that despite his adherence to the first strike policy, which was the cornerstone of New Delhi's strategy of using nuclear weapons, what will happen in the future will depend on the circumstances.
The first strike, or first use, is a pledge or policy by a nuclear power not to use atomic bombs as a means of warfare unless the enemy first attacks them using nuclear weapons.
"We are firmly determined to make India a nuclear power, yet we remain committed to the doctrine of the first strike," he said. "It is true that India has so far adhered to that policy, but what happens in the future depends on the circumstances."
His remarks came amid rising tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad over the Kashmir issue.
The Indian government has abolished two articles of the constitution, one granting autonomy to the state of Jammu and Kashmir in the part of the territory under its control, while the other gives Kashmiris alone in the state the right of permanent residence, as well as the right to employment in government departments and property and to receive educational grants.
The upper and lower chambers of the Indian parliament also approved the decision to divide the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two regions (Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh), which report directly to the central government. The resolution became law after it was passed by the president last week.
India's decision angered Pakistan, which in turn warned of a possible war between the nuclear-armed rivals, and threatened to resort to the International Criminal Court to discourage New Delhi from those decisions.