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Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday said the state is endowed with uranium and can contribute significantly to the manufacturing of nuclear weapons. Addressing the Defence East Tech symposium here, Soren said his government is ready to fully cooperate with the Centre to make the defence sector self-reliant. "Jharkhand is endowed with uranium and can contribute to nuclear weapon manufacturing. The state government is ready to cooperate fully with the Centre to make the defence sector self-reliant," Soren said. Uranium is a key component for the development of nuclear weapons.
The United Kingdom will buy 12 US-made F-35 fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear bombs and will join NATO's shared airborne nuclear mission, in a major expansion of its nuclear deterrent, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Wednesday. The government called it the biggest strengthening of the UK's nuclear posture in a generation. Starmer made the announcement while attending a NATO summit in the Netherlands. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte welcomed the decision, calling it yet another robust British contribution to NATO. The UK phased out air-dropped atomic weapons in the 1990s after the end of the Cold War. Its nuclear arsenal now consists of submarine-based missiles. Only three NATO members the US, Britain and France are nuclear powers, while seven nations contribute to the alliance's nuclear mission by contributing jets that can carry either conventional weapons or American B61 bombs stockpiled in Europe. The use of nuclear weapons by the UK as part of the mission woul
Nearly all of the nine nuclear-armed states, including India and Pakistan, continued intensive nuclear modernisation programmes in 2024, upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions, according to a report by a global think-tank. India is believed to have once again "slightly expanded" its nuclear arsenal in 2024 and continued to develop new types of nuclear delivery systems, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a statement. 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 said. The think-tank on Monday launched its annual assessment of the state of armaments, disarmament and international security in SIPRI Yearbook 2025. The statement on the release of its yearbook also makes a reference to the recent military conflict between India and Pakistan. The four-day military confrontation between the two nuclear-armed neighb