According to the report, India will slightly increase its nuclear arsenal in 2023.
New Delhi:
Nine nuclear-armed states – the United States, Russia, France, China, India and Pakistan – are continuing to modernize their nuclear arsenals, with several of them having deployed new nuclear weapon systems in 2023, a Swedish think tank said on Monday.
According to an analysis by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), China’s nuclear arsenal has grown from 410 warheads in January 2023 to 500 in January 2024 and is expected to continue to grow.
Of the deployed nuclear warheads, about 2,100 were on high operational alert for ballistic missiles, nearly all of which belonged to Russia or the United States, according to the report.
However, it is the first time that China is believed to have upgraded some of its nuclear warheads to a high operational alert level, the report said.
SIPRI said nine nuclear-armed states – the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel – continue to modernize their nuclear arsenals, with several having deployed new nuclear weapons or nuclear-capable weapon systems in 2023.
According to the report, as of January 2024, there are an estimated 12,121 nuclear warheads in stockpiles worldwide, of which approximately 9,585 are in military reserves ready for use.
An estimated 3,904 of those warheads are deployed on missiles or aircraft, 60 more than in January 2023. The rest are reportedly in central storage.
“About 2,100 of the deployed warheads were kept on high operational alert for ballistic missiles. Nearly all of these warheads were Russian or U.S., but for the first time, China appears to have warheads on high operational alert,” the report said.
According to the think tank, India, Pakistan and North Korea are all pursuing the capability to carry multiple warheads on their ballistic missiles, while Russia, France, Britain, the United States and, more recently, China already have it.
This could lead to a rapid increase in deployed nuclear warheads and increase the likelihood that nuclear-armed states will threaten to destroy more targets, the report said.
SIPRI said Russia and the United States together possess almost 90 percent of all nuclear weapons.
Russia is estimated to have deployed about 36 more warheads in its operational forces compared to January 2023, but military stockpiles for both countries appear to be relatively stable in 2023, the report said.
He added that following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, transparency about nuclear forces has decreased in both countries and discussions around a nuclear arms sharing agreement have become more important.
According to the report, as of January this year, India had 172 nuclear warheads in its “stock”, while Pakistan had 170.
India has slightly expanded its nuclear arsenal in 2023, it said, adding that both India and Pakistan would continue developing new nuclear weapon delivery systems in 2023.
“While Pakistan remains the primary focus of India’s nuclear deterrent, India appears to be increasingly focusing on longer-range weapons, including those capable of reaching targets across China,” the report said.
The report said that depending on how China structures its military, it could have at least as many intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) as Russia and the United States by the early 2020s.
At the same time, the report says China’s nuclear warhead stockpile is still expected to be much smaller than those of Russia and the United States.
“China is building up its nuclear arsenal at a faster pace than any other country,” said Hans M. Christensen, a senior fellow in SIPRI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Program and director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists.
“But almost every nuclear-weapon state has plans or is making major efforts to build up its nuclear arsenals,” Christensen said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
