This article aims to understand India’s remarkable nuclear journey in the last 75 years. It categorises India’s atomic trajectory into four distinct periods: Ambivalent (1948–1988), Reserved (1989–1998), Responsible (1998–2008) and Resurgent (2009 onwards). In doing so, the article provides an account of how the changing nature of India’s nuclear programme has impacted the scope and depth of its nuclear deterrences. However, the programme’s status is also consequential for India’s foreign policy practice and its approach to using force in international politics. The article shows how India’s nuclear capability, its foreign policy practice, and its approach to the use of force have seen dramatic shifts in the last thirty years. A resurgent India aims to become a world-class nuclear power, undisturbed by foreign perceptions of its atomic programme and increasingly resolute to use force even under the threat of escalation by its nuclear adversaries.

本文旨在了解印度在过去 75 年中非凡的核之旅。它将印度的原子弹道分为四个不同的时期：矛盾（1948-1988）、保留（1989-1998）、负责任（1998-2008）和复兴（2009 年以后）。在这样做的过程中，文章描述了印度核计划不断变化的性质如何影响其核威慑的范围和深度。然而，该计划的地位也对印度的外交政策实践及其在国际政治中使用武力的方式产生影响。这篇文章展示了印度的核能力、外交政策实践和使用武力的方式在过去 30 年中如何发生了巨大变化。复兴的印度旨在成为世界级的核大国，