The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the world’s leading arms watchdog, has signalled an important shift in India’s nuclear weapons posture. Its latest report claims India has “deployed” 12 nuclear warheads for the first time, NDTV reported on Tuesday.
According to the institute, India had until now stored its nuclear warheads separately from the missiles and other delivery systems capable of carrying them. Now, for the first time, part of India’s nuclear arsenal has been classified not merely as stockpiled but as “operationally deployed.” The report says the 12 newly deployed warheads have probably been mated with their delivery systems or placed at military bases where they can be used quickly if needed. Positioning ready weapons in underground missile silos and on new nuclear submarines signals a rise in India’s nuclear readiness, it adds.
The institute said India’s nuclear stockpile had reached about 190 weapons as of January 2026 — slightly more than the year before. The weapons are considered part of India’s evolving “nuclear triad” of aircraft, land-based missiles and ballistic-missile nuclear submarines. The report also notes that India has deployed a limited number of warheads on a ballistic-missile nuclear submarine and conducted patrols intended to demonstrate nuclear deterrence capability.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report