India surpasses Pakistan in nuke arsenal, adds 8 more warheads: Report
India now possesses more nuclear warheads than Pakistan, with the number at 180 as opposed to Islamabad's 170, according to a yearbook report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).According to the report, India had 172 warheads in 2024 and increased it to 180 in 2025. These warheads are in the country's stockpile, which means they are available to be deployed for operational use. On the other hand, Pakistan's warheads saw no change since 2024 and remain at 170 overall as of today, also in Islamabad's stockpile.
advertisementFounded in 1966, the SIPRI is an independent institution that does research into conflict, arms control, armaments and disarmament. Its report suggested that India expanded its nuclear arsenal slightly in the past year and continued the development of new delivery systems, including canisterised missiles that may eventually carry several warheads and stay mated during peacetime.
Pakistan, meanwhile, also pursued the development of new delivery systems and fissile material accumulation, but its cumulative arsenal size did not see any change over the past year.The SIPRI report highlighted India's rapid investment in diversifying capabilities across air, sea and land, offering the country a more credible and survivable second-strike capability in comparison to Pakistan's evolving but limited three platforms.The revelations come more than a month after India's Operation Sindoor, which was Delhi's biggest strategic move in decades in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam carnage that saw Pakistan-backed terrorists gun down 26 people.advertisementEven before the operation, wherein India struck as many as nine terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK), Islamabad had been launching nuke threats. The four-day conflict between the two nations after Operation Sindoor, however, saw India crush those blackmail after Delhi hit several key airbases in Pakistan, which Islamabad admitted to later as well. Additionally, in his first address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a stern warning to the neighbouring country, saying India will not tolerate any kind of nuclear blackmail. "Terror infra operating under nuclear blackmail will be targeted by India," he added.The SIPRI yearbook underscored that while both India and Pakistan are outside the formal nuclear arms control framework, Delhi's modernisation is seen as more doctrinally stable, in line with a declared "no first use" policy and minimum deterrence.It further noted that India's growth comes amid a global trend of increasing nuclear arsenals, detaching from the post-Cold War pattern of reductions.According to the yearbook by SIPRI, there are 12,241 nuke warheads globally, spread across nine nuclear-armed countries. Of these, 9,614 are in stockpile while 3,912 have been deployed. Most of these figures are attributed to the US and Russia, who remain the owners of 90 per cent of nuclear warheads worldwide.Even so, China and India are emerging rapidly as nuclear powers, with India taking a steady and cautious path as opposed to Beijing's more aggressive buildup, the SIPRI report said. China has as many as 600 nuclear warheads, with 24 deployed.Must Watch
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