India's response during any nuke attack will be heavy: IAF

New Delhi, Jul 26 (PTI) IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal P
V Naik on Tuesday said India followed a 'no-first-use' nuclear
policy but warned its response would be "very heavy" in the
event of any nuclear attack on the country.
"Our nuclear policy is of no first use. It also talks
about a very heavy response in case of a nuclear attack. It
talks about a retaliatory and hard response, our policy talks
about that," Naik, who demits office this Sunday, told a press
conference.
Naik was responding to a query on the new Pakistani
tactical nuclear missile 'Nasr' which is touted to be a
'game-changer' in future warfare.
He did not agree that the new missile will be a
'game-changer'.
"Tactical or strategic, it is a nuclear weapon. So,
obviously our response would be absolutely violent as per our
existing policy. I don't think it is a game-changer," he
added.
Pakistan recently successfully tested 'Nasr', a
short-range nuclear capable ballistic missile which can hit
targets in the range of 60 kms.
Asked if there was any need to be concerned over the
assessment in some quarters that Pakistan had an edge over
India in terms of the nuclear warheads, the IAF chief said,
"there is no need to be worried on this."
Meanwhile, responding to a query on the role of HAL,
Naik said that the aerospace PSU had provided great support to
the IAF in the last 50-60 years.
He said already some steps were being initiated by the
Government to streamline the procedures in the company for
"improving the quality".