New Delhi: The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has released its annual assessment: the SIPRI Yearbook 2026 on the state of armaments, disarmament and international security. The key finding vis-a-vis India is that the country, along with China, “may now occasionally deploy a small number of warheads mounted on missiles during peacetime” (italics added). SIPRI’s table lists such warheads in India at 12.Photo: Screengrab from SIPRI’s press release.SIPRI finds that the total global inventory of an estimated 12,187 warheads in January 2026, about 9,745 were in military stockpiles for potential use. About 4012 of those warheads were deployed with missiles and aircraft and the rest were in central storage. Between 2,100-2,200 of the deployed warheads were kept in a state of high operational alert on ballistic missiles. Most of these warheads belonged to Russia or the United States of America, a few, to France and the United Kingdom. China and India, as per SIPRI, have taken to preparedness involving some warheads mounted on missiles during peacetime. This is significant in the light of Operation Sindoor just a year ago, that ended abruptly after just 88 hours in a US-brokered ceasefire. SIPRI concludes that while India’s “modernisation programme is increasingly focused on developing long-range weapons capable of reaching targets throughout China,” planning also continues to be focused on India’s long-standing rivalry with Pakistan. Meanwhile, Pakistan continued to develop new delivery systems and accumulate fissile material in 2025. This indicates that it proposes to expand its nuclear arsenal over the coming decade. Pakistan’s geo-political role increasing substantially in the past year, and its deep involvement in the West Asian crisis and attempts to bring it to an end, also its defence pact with Saudi Arabia, lends a sharper edge to these findings by SIPRI and what it may portend in the times to come.India has 190 warheads in all, ahead of Pakistan’s 170.SIPRI’s central findings are that nations are increasingly relying on nuclear weapons as instruments of national power. This, worryingly, puts back decades long efforts aimed at reducing the numbers of and the role of nuclear weapons. The “risks of miscalculation and escalation” are considerable, even as this trend holds, as per SIPRI.The nine nuclear-armed states – the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and Israel – have expanded and consolidated their nuclear arsenals in 2025, and most deployed new nuclear-armed or nuclear-capable weapon systems during the year.SIPRI Director Karim Haggag said, “Influential voices, including some world leaders, are advocating nuclear weapons as a guarantee against attack by a hostile state. But making national defence and security strategies dependent, or more dependent, on nuclear weapons could significantly increase nuclear risks.” He added that “dangers associated with nuclear weapons are growing due to advances in weapon technology, the breakdown of nuclear arms control and heightened geopolitical tensions, among a range of other factors. At the same time, world events, not least the outbreak of conflict between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, are challenging nuclear deterrence logic.”You can access the entire report here.