India, Sept. 22 -- As Washington and Beijing discuss AI and nuclear weapons, India must lead the same conversation in South Asia

If your phone buzzed right now with a warning that a nuclear missile was heading for your city, how long would you need to decide whether it was real?

Ten minutes? Twenty? Half an hour to check the news and catch your breath?

In South Asia, a prime minister would get about six minutes. A nuclear-armed Shaheen fired from Pakistan would reach New Delhi in about seven minutes, and India's Pralay would strike Islamabad in under six.

Now ask another question. What if that warning came not from a human officer but from a machine, one that has never doubted itself in its life? The world is sleepwalking towards that...