Context:

India stands seventh among the nine countries armed with nuclear weapons in terms of inventory of warheads, according to the SIPRI Year Book 2020.

Key-highlights of the Report

• Both nuclear neighbors of India-China and Pakistan have more warheads than their inventory.
  • Pakistan: Pakistan ranks sixth, with 160 nuclear warheads, just above India among the nuclear weapon countries. There is a significant development, according to the SIPRI report, in Pakistan’s nuclear weapon program.
  • China: China’s nuclear warhead count stands at 320 – that is, more than double the number that India has. SIPRI says China is in the middle of significant modernization and expansion of its arsenal.
• China and Pakistan have had more nuclear warheads than India in the past as well.
• Russia leads the world with 6,375 warheads, followed by the US with 5,800, and the UK with 215 warheads.
• Israel is believed to possess between 80 and 90 nuclear warheads.
• The nine nuclear-armed states—the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)—together possessed an estimated 13,400 nuclear weapons at the start of 2020.

About SIPRI

• Based in Stockholm, SIPRI is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control, and disarmament.
• Established in 1966, SIPRI provides data, analysis and recommendations, based on open sources, to policymakers, researchers, media and the interested public.