India Widens Nuclear Lead Over Pakistan, Arsenal Reaches 190 Warheads: SIPRI

Published 8 June 2026 · sports

India Widens Nuclear Lead Over Pakistan, Arsenal Reaches 190 Warheads: SIPRI Reported By, Edited By Last Updated: June 08, 2026, 10:52 IST SIPRI estimated that

India Widens Nuclear Lead Over Pakistan, Arsenal Reaches 190 Warheads: SIPRI Reported By, Edited By Last Updated: June 08, 2026, 10:52 IST SIPRI estimated that India's nuclear arsenal has reached 190 warheads as compared to Pakistan's 170 as of January 2026. Rapid Read India and Pakistan have continued strengthening and modernising their nuclear arsenal during 2025. (AI-Generated Image) The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has released its Yearbook 2026, which shows that India has expanded its nuclear arsenal beyond that of Pakistan, with an arsenal of 190 warheads as of January 2026. The Yearbook, which covers global military expenditure, arms transfers, nuclear forces and major security developments during 2025, estimated that India’s nuclear arsenal has reached 190 warheads as compared to Pakistan’s 170.

India now has a lead of around 20 nuclear warheads over Pakistan. Both countries have continued strengthening and modernising their nuclear arsenal during 2025 amid a broader global nuclear buildup. “Over the past decade, India’s nuclear planning has placed a greater emphasis on investing more resources in longer-range weapon systems that appear to be focused on China, but its planning still remains heavily influenced by its long-standing rivalry with Pakistan," the report noted. SIPRI also noted that nuclear modernisation, long-range missiles, armed drones, AI-enabled systems and cyber capabilities are increasingly shaping military competition in South Asia. India Vs Pakistan On Defence Expenditure India remains the world’s fifth-largest military spender, with defence expenditure reaching $92.1 billion in 2025, up 8.9% from the previous year.

On the other hand, Pakistan does not feature among the world’s top 15 military spenders. While India ranked as the world’s second-largest arms importer during 2021-25, accounting for 8.2% of global imports, Pakistan ranked 5th globally (4.2%). India has imported nearly twice the volume of major arms as compared to Pakistan in this period. Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated last year after the Pahalgam terror attack, prompting the Indian military to launch a military offensive known as Operation Sindoor. The SIPRI report described the operation as an “unusually severe military crisis" between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, who also integrated cyber operations into an active military conflict for the first time. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit About the Author Akash Sharma Akash Sharma, Defence Correspondent, CNN-News 18, covers the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Railways.