India has more nuclear warheads than Pakistan, even as China has over three times more warheads than what India has, the latest Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) yearbook released Monday stated.
As per the SIPRI yearbook 2025, India has 180 nuclear stored warheads as of January 2025, while Pakistan has an estimated 170. China has 600 nuclear warheads as of January 2025, of which 24 are deployed warheads or those placed on missiles or located on bases with operational forces.
The report said that India is believed to have once again slightly expanded its nuclear arsenal in 2024 and continued to develop new types of nuclear delivery systems. It said India’s new ‘canisterised’ missiles, which can be transported with mated warheads, may be capable of carrying nuclear warheads during peacetime, and possibly even multiple warheads on each missile, once they become operational. It added that Pakistan also continued to develop new delivery systems and accumulate fissile material in 2024, suggesting that its nuclear arsenal might expand over the coming decade.
It also briefly referred to India’s launch of Operation Sindoor. “The combination of strikes on nuclear-related military infrastructure and third-party disinformation risked turning a conventional conflict into a nuclear crisis,” said Matt Korda, Associate Senior Researcher with SIPRI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Programme.
The SIPRI report also said Russia and the US have the largest military stockpile of the nine nuclear forces at 5,459 and 5,177, respectively, including retired warheads.
It said Russia, China, India, Pakistan and North Korea deploy dual-capable missiles and all are believed to be modernising these capabilities. “Up until the mid 2000s, only France, Russia, the UK and the USA deployed missiles with multiple warheads. Since then, China has developed two missiles to carry multiple warheads, while India, Pakistan and North Korea are all currently pursuing this capability,” it said.
Talking about India’s growing stockpile of nuclear weapons, it said these weapons were assigned to a maturing nuclear triad of aircraft, land-based missiles and SSBNs.
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“It has long been assumed that India stores its nuclear warheads separate from its deployed launchers during peacetime; however, the country’s recent moves towards placing missiles in canisters and conducting sea-based deterrence patrols suggest that India could be shifting in the direction of mating some of its warheads with their launchers in peacetime,” the report said.
It added that although Pakistan remains the focus of India’s nuclear deterrent, India appears to be placing growing emphasis on longer-range weapons capable of reaching targets throughout China.
It also said that 162 states were recipients of major arms in 2020-24 and the five largest arms recipients were Ukraine, India, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, which together accounted for 35 per cent of total arms imports.
