The nuclear weapons contest in Southern Asia is ongoing, with India possessing more weapons than Pakistan. Nevertheless, China’s arsenal is much more extensive than that of another country. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a Swedish institute recognized for its research on worldwide safety and disarmament, relayed these statistics.
SIPRI’s Annual ReportÂ
India has 172 nuclear warheads, while Pakistan contains only 170 warheads, as per the latest annual report released by SIPRI on Monday. But China could possess up to five hundred such devices – which is many times larger than all nations within South Asia and across the globe altogether.
The 2024 edition of the report emphasizes that all nine nations with atomic bombs — US, Russia, UK, France, China, including India, followed by Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel — continue to improve their arsenals year after year.
More Nuclear WeaponsÂ
Over the past year, several states have either deployed new nuclear weapons or equipped existing systems with such capabilities. The report reveals that India has added more numbers to its arsenal, making it more significant than Pakistan. As per SIPRI data for this year, there are about 12,121 total nukes among these nine countries, compared to last year’s figure of around 12,512.
Data Sources
SIPRI provides nuclear weapon information based on open sources, such as government white papers, parliamentary publications, official statements, etc., and uses media reports and academic journals as secondary sources if necessary.
Indian & Chinese Nuclear Stockpiles
India’s stockpile increased by approximately five percent over the last year from an estimated 164 in 2touthe p to the current count, at least equaling 1,72 in 2024, says SIPRe; meanwhile, the Pakistani count has remained unchanged since then, remaining steady near about one seventy. According to the report, India is developing long-range missiles capable of striking targets within mainland China. In contrast, people believe Pakistanis are producing more bombs intended for use against India.
The Chinese arsenal grew by 22% (from 410 to 500) during the same period. As of January 2024, around 24 of these warheads were placed on launchers, which marks a significant improvement over zero operational weapons in the previous year.
Worldwide Nuclear Stockpile
The total number of atomic bombs among countries with such weapons worldwide is 12,121, according to SIPRI’s 2024 report, showing a reduction of about three ninety warheads from last year. Still, there has been a slight increase in only ready-use ones: military arsenals stored away nine five eight five compared to the previous edition figure at nine thousand five hundred seventy-six three thousand nine hundred four are deployed w forces. Out of this lot, two thousand missiles primarily belong to the United States. States have started mounting some of iChinanto, and such system beginnings reportedly beg to invite them to do so, too.
American & Russian Dominance
The new study states that Russia and America account for nearly all global nuclear arsenals. Although the number of US troops deployed stayed the same throughout, a decrease occurred within Russian numbers after deployment: thirty-six additional ones occurred last time.
