India places 12 nuclear warheads on operational deployment: SIPRI
The report said the 12 warheads were classified as "deployed" because they were either mounted on missiles or located at bases with operational forces
India has moved 12 nuclear warheads into a deployed operational status for the first time, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's (SIPRI) Yearbook 2026, marking a shift in the management of the country's nuclear arsenal.
The report said the 12 warheads were classified as "deployed" because they were either mounted on missiles or located at bases with operational forces. Previously, SIPRI had assessed that India's entire nuclear arsenal was held in military stockpiles rather than maintained in a state of operational readiness, says the Deccan Herald.
India's total nuclear inventory continued to grow, rising to 190 warheads in 2026 from 180 in 2025 and 172 in 2024, according to the report.
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SIPRI said India remains focused on its long-standing rivalry with neighbouring Pakistan, but its nuclear modernisation programme is increasingly geared towards developing longer-range weapons capable of reaching targets across China.
Despite the deployment of a limited number of warheads, India continues to adhere to its stated "no-first-use" nuclear policy, first announced following its 1998 nuclear tests. The country is also pursuing a nuclear triad of land-, air- and sea-based delivery systems designed to ensure a credible second-strike capability.
The report noted that China has maintained 24 deployed nuclear warheads over the past three years while significantly expanding its overall arsenal. China's inventory grew from 500 warheads in 2024 to more than 600 in 2026, according to SIPRI.
Pakistan's nuclear stockpile was estimated at 170 warheads, although the report did not classify any of them as deployed.
Globally, SIPRI estimated that the world's nuclear inventory stood at approximately 12,187 warheads as of January 2026. More than 4,000 of those were deployed, with around 2,100 to 2,200 kept on high operational alert.
The vast majority of warheads maintained at high readiness belong to the United States and Russia, SIPRI said, though it added that India and China may now occasionally deploy nuclear warheads on missiles during peacetime.
The report did not provide details on the methodology used to determine that India had 12 deployed warheads.
SIPRI said all nine nuclear-armed states — the United States, Russia, Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel — continued to modernise their nuclear arsenals during 2025.
