China, Pakistan And India Are Likely Expanding Their Nuclear Arsenals: SIPRI Study

As per a study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), China, Pakistan, and India are likely expanding their nuclear arsenals, reports Economic Times.

It should be noted that as per SIPRI, as of January 2020, China, Pakistan and India had 350, 160 and 150 nuclear warheads in their arsenals respectively. SIPRI study underscores, "China is in the middle of a significant modernisation and expansion of its nuclear weapon inventory, and India and Pakistan also appear to be expanding their nuclear arsenals."

As per SIPRI, a total of nine countries in the world possess nuclear warheads. These include the United States (US) and Russia which alone account for over 90 per cent of all 13,080 nuclear warheads in the world. The other nations are the United Kingdom (UK), France, Israel and North Korea, apart from India, China and Pakistan.

The study also shared that approximately 2,000 of the total 13,080 nuclear warheads in the world are kept in a state of high operational alertness.

It should be noted that India and Pakistan do not provide any information about the status or size of their nuclear arsenals. However, they do make statements about some of their missile tests.