India's growing weight in the world of nuclear weapons has clearly unsettled its neighbour. After a new international report came out, Islamabad has been anxious enough that the Shehbaz Sharif government is now publicly urging the world to rein India in. The reason: India has not only expanded the size of its nuclear warhead stockpile, it has also positioned those weapons at strategically important locations.
What the SIPRI Report Reveals
The figures come from the annual report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the Sweden-based body that tracks the world's nuclear arsenals every year. According to the report, India has increased its count of nuclear warheads to 190, and 12 of these atom bombs have now been deployed. SIPRI claims that over the past year alone, India has built 10 new atom bombs.
Why Pakistan Is Rattled
The picture becomes clear the moment you compare the numbers. Last year India held 180 atom bombs; this year the figure has climbed to 190. Pakistan's own nuclear weapon capacity, by contrast, has shown no increase at all — and it is precisely this widening gap that is troubling Islamabad. The report also notes that India has deployed its nuclear weapons for the first time, a point that stings Pakistan the most. Soon after the report surfaced, Pakistan appealed to the world's major powers to intervene in the matter. Its foreign ministry argued that the speed and aggression with which India is producing atom bombs could pose a danger not just to Pakistan but to other countries as well.
What Pakistan's Foreign Ministry Said
Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman, Tahir Andrabi, went a step further, alleging that India is building missiles capable of striking far beyond its defensive requirements. He claimed that while the SIPRI report mentions only 12 deployed warheads, India has in reality stationed even more atom bombs than that. Andrabi added that India has also deployed nuclear-powered submarines, calling all of this a threat to peace and stability across the world.
Stronger Weapons, Stronger Shield
Another major source of Pakistan's unease is that India is simultaneously developing cutting-edge weapons of its own while steadily hardening its defensive shield. In line with this, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched DRDO's 'Project Kusha' in Hyderabad.
Project Kusha: A Rs 21,700 Crore Indigenous Shield
This is a fully indigenous project worth Rs 21,700 crore, under which a long-range surface-to-air missile defence system is being built. Its scientific name is the Extended Range Air Defence System. What sets it apart is its ability to shoot down enemy fighter jets, drones, cruise and ballistic missiles from as far away as 400 kilometres. Project Kusha is in fact one part of India's multi-layered air defence system, 'Sudarshan Chakra', which Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced from the ramparts of the Red Fort.
Drawing a mythological parallel at the launch, Rajnath Singh said that just as Lord Krishna destroyed the wicked with the Sudarshan Chakra during the Mahabharata war, India's modern air defence system too will foil every intention of the enemy and build an impregnable protective ring for the country.
