India possesses more nuclear weapons than Pakistan, while China plans to increase its nuclear warhead count from 410 in January 2023 to 500 by January 2024, according to a report released on Monday by Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
According to SIPRI’s analysis, China’s nuclear arsenal is expected to grow from 410 in January 2023 to 500 in January 2024 and continue to grow.
Key takeaways from the SIPRI report
- The nine nuclear-weapon states – the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel – continue to modernize their nuclear arsenals, with several of them deploying new nuclear weapon systems in 2023.READ ALSO | Amid conflict, global military spending is set to increase by 7% in 2023, according to think tank SIPRI.
- As of January this year, India had 172 nuclear warheads in its “storage,” while Pakistan had 170.
- India will slightly expand its nuclear arsenal in 2023, and both India and Pakistan will continue to develop new nuclear weapon delivery systems in 2023.
- The SIPRI report noted that while India’s nuclear deterrent remains centred around Pakistan, India appears to be increasingly focusing on longer-range weapons, including those capable of reaching targets across China.
- About 2,100 of the deployed warheads are on high operational alert for ballistic missiles, nearly all of which belong to Russia or the United States, but this is the first time that China is believed to have warheads on high operational alert.READ ALSO | India to become world’s fourth-largest military spender by 2023, says new Shiply report
- Russia and the United States together possess nearly 90 percent of all nuclear weapons.
- The watchdog added that Russia is estimated to have around 36 more nuclear warheads deployed to operational forces than it did in January 2023.
- China’s nuclear warhead stockpile is still expected to be much smaller than those of Russia and the United States, the report said.
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(Input agency available)
