What If Nuclear War Happens in South Asia Today?

(Excerpted from  What Happens If India and Pakistan Go to Nuclear War? -

Nidhi, May 07, 2025, 12:49 IST, Times Life) 

South Asia is home to over 1.7 billion people. Densely populated cities and and fragile infrastructure make a nuclear conflict here far more catastrophic.

1. Immediate Casualties Could Be in the Millions

 

u A nuclear detonation over Delhi or Karachi could kill over 1 million people instantly

 

u Secondary injuries from burns, flying debris, and collapsing buildings could overwhelm all medical capacity.

 

2. Cities Would Be Erased

 

Mumbai, Lahore, Islamabad, Bangalore — all are potential targets.

 

u Heat waves from the blast could cause firestorms and incinerate entire neighborhoods.

 

u Critical infrastructure — roads, airports, hospitals — would vanish.

 

3. Long-Term Radiation Effects

Fallout clouds would travel hundreds of kilometers depending on wind direction. 

Rivers like the Indus and Ganga could be contaminated.

 

u Farmland would become unusable; livestock would die off.

 

u Radiation would linger in affected areas for decades, causing cancers, genetic mutations, and ecological collapse.

Taken 15 minutes after the atomic bomb detonation over Nagasaki from Koyagi-jima Island. The earliest photograph taken from the ground.

General view of Hiroshima, Japan as seen from vicinity of 'zero', shows complete devastation as a result of atomic bombing.

This photo, taken at approximately 11 a.m. on Aug. 6, 1945, is among the first known surviving photos documenting survivors of the atomic attack on Hiroshima. 

The survivors amongst the ruins of Nagasaki.

Formation of keloidal scars on the neck of a victim of the Hiroshima blast. 

A photograph taken by Masami Onuka at the army quarantine station on Ninoshima on the afternoon of August 7, 1945.

Long-Term Effects in Hiroshima & Nagasaki

• Survivors suffered leukemia, thyroid cancers, birth defects, and chronic illnesses.
  
  
• Radiation contaminated the environment for decades.
  
  
• It took both cities over 30 years to fully recover.