India is said to have deployed 12 nuclear warheads in peacetime for the first time, and the country’s total N-stockpile is estimated at around 190 warheads as of January 2026, up from 180 a year ago.

The moves signal a significant shift in the country's nuclear posturing, according to a report by Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

India's modernisation programme is increasingly focused on developing long-range weapons capable of reaching targets throughout China, although planning also continues to be focused on its long-standing rivalry with Pakistan, said the report released on Monday.

Countries across the world are now "increasingly relying on nuclear weapons as instruments of national power", reversing decades of efforts to reduce the numbers and role of nuclear weapons even as the risks of miscalculation and escalation are rising, the report said.

According to the report, nine nuclear-armed nations — India, China, Pakistan, the US, Russia, the UK, France, North Korea and Israel — together possessed approximately 12,187 nuclear weapons in January 2026, of which 9,745 were in military stockpiles and considered potentially available operationally.

“Nearly all of these warheads belonged to Russia or the USA, and to a lesser extent France and the UK,” it said.

About Pakistan, the report said the country's nuclear warhead stockpile was thought to have remained stable at around 170 warheads as of January 2026 while it continues to develop new delivery systems and accumulate fissile material in 2025, suggesting that its nuclear arsenal might expand over the coming decade.

“While Pakistan’s land and air capabilities are well established, its sea-based capabilities are still in the development and testing phase,” the report said.

China, the report said, has around 620 nuclear warheads while it is expanding its nuclear arsenal faster than any other country and has showcased several new nuclear systems during its 2025 military parade. As of January, India deployed 12 nuclear warheads while China had 34. For China, it was an increase from 24 in 2025.