India, Pakistan upgrading nuclear arsenals, says report

India and Pakistan are upgrading their nuclear arsenals with both countries increasing their nuclear weapons from 60-80 and 70-90 warheads in 2010, to 110-120 and 90-110 respectively.

According to the Express Tribune, the data compiled by the SIPRI shows both Pakistan and India have not only been developing new systems capable of delivering nuclear weapons but also expanding their capacities to produce fissile material for military purposes.

The data further revealed that the United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea together possessed approximately 16, 300 nuclear warheads, while the number of active/deployed nuclear weapons was around 4000.

SIPRI Researchers Shannon Kile and Phillip Patton Schell said that this year again the nuclear weapon-possessing states took little action to indicate a genuine willingness to work toward complete dismantlement of their nuclear arsenals.

They added that the long-term modernisation programmes under way in these states suggest their views that nuclear weapons will remain deeply embedded elements of their strategic calculus.

The report further said that there is an emerging consensus in the expert community that North Korea has produced a small number of nuclear weapons, as distinct from rudimentary nuclear explosive devices.