The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said on 23 June 2013 in its annual report that China now has 250 nuclear warheads, compared to 240 in 2012, adding that the country is “highly non-transparent” when it comes to its nuclear arsenal. Pakistan increased its number by 10 to between 100 and 120 and India has also added around 10 for a rough total of 90 to 100, the institute said.
That growth is part of what SIPRI calls a “fragile” peace in Asia characterized by escalating tensions since 2008 between India and Pakistan, China and Japan, and the two Koreas, among others.
“While states have avoided direct conflict with each other and have stopped supporting insurgent movements on each other’s territory, decades-old suspicions linger and economic integration has not been followed up with political integration,” SIPRI said.
There are 17,265 nuclear warheads that are active, in storage or ready to be dismantled, SIPRI said. There has been a decrease of around 1,700 warheads compared to 2011, mainly due to cuts by Russia and the US. Russia has reduced its numbers from 10,000 to 8,500 while the US has cut back from 8,000 to 7,700.
France maintained its arsenal at 300 warheads, while Britain stayed at 225 and Israel at 80. North Korea and Iran are not counted as nuclear powers because their programs are still considered to be in their early stages.
