Statement I: India used the Minimum Credible Deterrent argument to develop its nuclcar weapon system arguing that it had such a threat from China. Pakistan in turn used the same argument against India when it developed its own nuclear weapons. Statement I : The Minimum Credible Deterrent refers to a notion according to which nuclcar weapons become necessary for a country when it has a clear nuclcar threat-

Statement I is true as India's nuclear doctrine is built on 'Credible Minimum Deterrence' (CMD), a posture adopted following the 1998 Pokhran-II tests, where Prime Minister Vajpayee explicitly cited the nuclear threat from China as a primary motivation [t2, t6, t8]. Pakistan subsequently justified its own nuclear program as a necessary response to restore the 'regional strategic balance' against India's nuclear capability [t4, t7]. Statement II is also true and provides the correct explanation for Statement I. CMD is a strategic principle where a state maintains only the minimum nuclear arsenal required to deter an adversary by ensuring the costs of a first strike outweigh any benefits [t2]. Since both nations developed their systems specifically to deter perceived existential threats from their respective nuclear-armed neighbors, the notion of CMD directly explains their strategic justifications [t1, t3].

Sources

1. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimal_deterrence
2. [2] https://press.un.org/en/1998/19981020.gads3115.html
3. [3] https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2016/06/indias-nuclear-force-structure-2025?lang=en