India’s nuclear arsenal expanding: Report

An international think tank tracking nuclear arms has said China’s nuclear arsenal is growing faster than anyone else while India is believed to have once again expanded its nuclear weapons in 2024 as its continues to develop new types of nuclear delivery systems.

“Pakistan is also continuing to develop new delivery systems and accumulate fissile material, suggesting that its nuclear arsenal might expand over the coming decade,” said the report released today by the Sweden-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Claiming that a “dangerous new nuclear arms race” is emerging, SIPRI said nearly all nine nuclear-armed countries — the US, Russia, the UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel — continued intensive nuclear modernisation programmes in 2024 by upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions.

The report is the annual assessment of the state of armaments, disarmament and international security.

On India, it said, “It is believed to have once again slightly expanded its nuclear arsenal in 2024 and continued to develop new types of nuclear delivery systems.”

India’s new “canisterised” missiles, which can be transported with mated warheads, might be capable of carrying nuclear warheads during peacetime and possibly even multiple warheads on each missile once they become operational, it added.

On Pakistan, the report said, “It also continued to develop new delivery systems and accumulate fissile material in 2024, suggesting that its nuclear arsenal might expand over the coming decade.”

SIPRI estimates that China now has at least 600 nuclear warheads. China’s nuclear arsenal is growing faster than any other country’s, by about 100 new warheads a year since 2023.

By January, China had completed or was close to completing around 350 new ICBM silos in three large desert fields in the north of the country and three mountainous areas in the east.

“China could potentially have at least as many ICBMs as either Russia or the US by the turn of the decade,” it added.

Of the total global inventory of an estimated 12,241 warheads in January 2025, about 9,614 were in military stockpiles for potential use. An estimated 3,912 of the warheads were deployed with missiles and aircraft and the rest were in central storage. Around 2,100 of the deployed warheads were kept in a state of high operational alert on ballistic missiles. Nearly all of these warheads belonged to Russia or the US, but China might now keep some warheads on missiles during peacetime, the report said.

Russia and the US together possess around 90 per cent of all nuclear weapons.

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