ISLAMABAD: Former Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee retired Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat on Wednesday cautioned that the extremist influence on India`s strategic posture could destabilise the region.

Speaking at the conference on `Nuclear Deterrence in the Age of Emerging Technologies`, hosted by the Centre for International Strategic Studies (CISS), Gen Hayat described India as `the only nuclear-armed state governed by an extremist ideology`.

He noted the ideological alignment of India`s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), saying the government actively promotes Hindu nationalism.

`Yet, the world chooses silence. Why? Because India is a large country, and the West`s focus is fixated on containing China,` Gen Hayat said, adding that `these are the double standards, and they are dangerous for global peace and stability.

He also criticised India`s official use of the name `Bharat` at international platforms, calling it a signal of a deeper ideological transition from a secular democracy to a `Hindu Rashtra`.

`India is no longer `India.` It is now `Bharat,` and this is not just a name change it is a signal,` he said.

Gen Hayat warned that India now possessed the world`s fastest-growing nuclear arsenal and had remained the largest arms importer for over a decade. He highlighted India`s expanding missile development programme, calling it a reflection of growing military ambitions.

India`s strategic behaviour is unfolding across three dangerous dimensions: ideological extremism, technological militarisation, and political assertiveness, he said.

`With the fastest-growing nuclear programme, longrange missile development, and a decade as the top arms importer, this trifecta is destabilising South Asia,` he added.

Gen Hayat also addressed the challenges posed by `multi-domain deterrence` a strategic concept that integrates capabilities across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace. Previously absent from traditional deterrence frameworks, multi-domain deterrence introduces a more complex and layered challenge to the global security architecture.

The two-day conference drew experts from Australia, Canada, China, Russia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States to discuss the military implications of emerging technologies.