‘India enhances its nuclear stockpile’
SWEDISH THINK-TANK WARNS OF RISING TENSIONS AS COUNTRIES CONTINUE TO MODERNISE THEIR ARSENALS
INDIA enriched its nuclear arsenal by adding 10 more weapons to the stockpile over the last year, but the country possesses a fewer number of warheads than China and Pakistan, a report from a leading Swedish think-tank said on Monday (15).
Although the number of nuclear warheads declined in the past year, Russia and the US account for more than 90 per cent of the world’s nuclear weapons, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
At the start of 2020, the US, Russia, Britain, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea together had 13,400 nuclear arms, according to SIPRI’s estimates, 465 fewer than at the start of 2019.
The decline was attributed mainly to the US and Russia. While China has a total of 320 warheads in its arsenal, Pakistan and India are estimated to have 160 and 150 weapons, respectively.
“China is in the middle of a significant modernisation of its nuclear arsenal. It is developing a so-called nuclear triad for the first time, made up of new land- and seabased missiles and nuclear-capable aircraft,” SIPRI said.
“India and Pakistan are slowly increasing the size and diversity of their nuclear forces, while North Korea continues to prioritise its military nuclear programme as a central element of its national security strategy,” it added.
In its 2019 report, SIPRI said China’s nuclear arsenal contained 290 warheads while India’s had 130-140. Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal was calculated at 150-160, a number which remains the same in this year’s assessment.
The SIPRI Yearbook, which assesses the current state of armaments, disarmament and international security, said despite an overall decrease in the number of nuclear warheads, nuclear powers continue to modernise their arsenals and warned that “tensions were rising” and the outlook for arms control was “bleak”.
“The loss of key channels of communication between Russia and the USA... could potentially lead to a new nuclear arms race,” said Shannon Kile, director of the nuclear arms control programme at SIPRI and co-author of the report.
Kile was referring to the future of the New START treaty between the US and Russia, which is set to expire in February 2021. It is the final nuclear deal still in force, aimed at maintaining their nuclear arsenals below Cold War levels.
“Discussions to extend New START or to negotiate a new treaty made no progress in 2019,” the SIPRI researchers noted.
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), a cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The number of nuclear arms worldwide has declined since hitting a peak of almost 70,000 in the mid-1980s.
The five original nuclear powers – Washington, Beijing, Moscow, Paris and London – in March reiterated their commitment to the treaty. (Agencies)