190 warheads, 12 deployed. What led to India’s heightened nuclear posture?
- Jayanta Kalita
- TIMESOFINDIA.COMUpdated: Jun 10, 2026, 16:30 IST IST
Since the Cold War ended, the world’s nuclear stockpile has generally been shrinking. For years, Russia and the US dismantled retired warheads faster than they introduced new ones, leading to a steady decline in the total number of nuclear weapons worldwide.
That trend, however, may be coming to an end as the pace of dismantling old warheads is slowing, while countries are increasingly deploying new nuclear weapons, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). This could result in a spike in the global nuclear inventory in the years ahead.
That trend, however, may be coming to an end as the pace of dismantling old warheads is slowing, while countries are increasingly deploying new nuclear weapons, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). This could result in a spike in the global nuclear inventory in the years ahead.
