NEW YORK: Alarmed by reports that Bharatya Janata Party (BJP) led by Narendra Modi could “jettison” India's ‘no first use’ nuclear doctrine, The New York Times says “instead of abandoning the ‘no first use’ doctrine, whoever wins the election would do better to commit himself to improving ties with Pakistan”.

In a editorial “A risk to India's Nuclear Doctrine” on Thursday the newspaper weighs in to note the campaign promises of the Bharatiya Janata Party, “among the more troubling proposals in the party's election manifesto is one to “revise and update” the country's nuclear doctrine."

The Times notes India and Pakistan, each with about 100 nuclear weapons and building more, have little regular communication, which raises the potential for miscalculation.

Pakistan, in fact, has the world's fastest-growing nuclear arsenal and recently added short-range tactical nuclear weapons that experts say are more likely to be used in battle.

The newspaper understates “That existing threat, however, is not a reason for India to abandon its “no first use” doctrine; its conventional arsenal is far superior to Pakistan's and sufficient to respond to most threats."

Although the BJP initiated the “no first use” policy in India, a BJP-led government also conducted the country's first nuclear tests in 1998.

In signalling its willingness to take a more provocative stance toward Pakistan and China, the party does not advance India's interests, the newspaper said.

Reflecting on the unresolved conflict over Kashmir between India and Pakistan, over which both countries have gone to war three times, the NYT says the existence of extremist groups in the Afghan-Pakistan border region make any shifts in nuclear policies particularly dangerous.

'The current government led by the Congress party has focused somewhat more on developing the country's civilian nuclear energy sector rather than on nuclear arms. In fact, last week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh proposed a global framework to promote a “no first use” doctrine among nuclear weapons states, a laudable goal” says the paper.