Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated sharply on Thursday, as the Pakistani government said it would consider it “an act of war” if India followed through on a threat to block the flow of crucial rivers as punishment for a deadly militant attack in Kashmir.
Sadly I am not that optimistic.
Event without a real madman we had several close calls regarding nuclear escalation.
Remember the cuba crisis? Or NATO maneuver “Able Archer” during the 80th?
Yea, those events, nothing actually happened, just sabre rattling and media magnification.
I also remember actual events where an attack took place, like Ukraine long-range strikes inside russia and Ukraine conquering russia territories, nothing happened. I remember russia placing nukes in Belarus to trigger a new cuba crisis. To russia disappointment, nothing happened.
But you are right in that anything can happen, even butter fingers during peace time. The risk probably becomes more when there is tension, so keeping communication open between each other is important. The good thing is that unlike evil russia, India has a no-first-use (NFU) policy.