India has a “no first use” policy regarding its nuclear weapons, reserving them solely for retaliation in the event of a nuclear attack. Indian also adheres to a “minimum self-defense” doctrine, in which the fewest nuclear weapons needed to maintain effective deterrence from attack are maintained.

Kyle Mizokami is a writer based in San Francisco who has appeared in The Diplomat, Foreign Policy, War is Boring and The Daily Beast. In 2009 he co-founded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch. You can follow him on Twitter: @KyleMizokami. This article originally appeared this year and is being republished due to reader interest.

Image: Reuters.