New Delhi: India is estimated to have 190 nuclear warheads, 20 more than Pakistan, and could soon move ahead of the United Kingdom in the size of its nuclear stockpile, according to a new assessment by the US-based Federation of American Scientists (FAS).
These include two aircraft, six land-based ballistic missiles and one sea-based ballistic missile.
At present, India operates nine nuclear-capable systems, according to the report.
Outside the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, India and Pakistan have the largest nuclear arsenals in South Asia. A more mature and secure sea-based retaliatory capability could also reduce the need to keep land-based nuclear forces on high alert. Israel is estimated to possess around 90 warheads, although it follows a policy of nuclear ambiguity. North Korea is estimated to have about 60 warheads.
The FAS assessment said this policy reduces the need for a capability aimed at launching a disabling first strike.
These systems are expected to enter service with the armed forces within the next few years. Russia has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, with around 5,420 warheads, followed by the United States with approximately 5,042. Russia and the United States account for about 86 per cent of the world’s total nuclear warheads, according to data cited by the FAS and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. China has the third-largest nuclear arsenal, with an estimated 620 warheads.
At least two more nuclear-capable systems are under development and are nearing completion, the assessment said. “We estimate that the operational forces can deliver over 160 nuclear warheads, with additional warheads having been produced for missiles in production, for a total inventory of up to 190 warheads,” the report said. Its stockpile is increasing at the fastest rate among the nuclear-armed states, according to the assessment.
