Threat Increasing of Nuclear War in The World: Report

• By Thetripurapost Desk, Moscow
• Apr 29, 2024
• 26

America and Russia are investing money in modernizing their nuclear arsenals. China's military is also engaged in expanding and upgrading its capabilities. Wan, of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, emphasized that it is difficult to separate regional developments in Asia from the global military buildup of recent years. 

For example, India's Agni-5 MIRV test was widely seen by analysts as a response to recent Chinese deployments. He said that we have seen in the Ukraine war that Russia is using ballistic missiles purchased from North Korea.

The US and Russia combined possess about 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons. The Federation of American Scientists estimates that Russia has about 5,580 and the US has 5,044, including weapons held in reserve. 

The treaty, known as New START, entered into force in 2011 and limits each country to deploying a maximum of 1,550 strategic warheads, with additional restrictions on ICBMs and bombers. With the treaty likely to expire in 2026, fears of a new nuclear arms race are growing.

Russia suspended its participation in the new treaty in February last year, citing US support for Ukraine. In November it also withdrew from the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, raising the possibility of future weapons tests. Wan says the guardrails are being removed to avoid the risk of nuclear war and an arms race. 

The US think tank estimates that China currently has about 500 nuclear weapons, with these expected to double by 2030.

It is estimated that India has 164 and Pakistan has 170 nuclear weapons, while Israel has 90 weapons. Experts estimate that North Korea has collected about 40 or 50 weapons. Researcher Rostkar has said that the creation of nuclear weapons poses a threat of instability everywhere.