In its latest annual assessment, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) captures the accelerating turmoil in international security and the shifting dynamics of armaments, arms control, and technological threats. The report (SIPRI Yearbook 2025) reflects a world facing deepening conflict, rising military spending, and the erosion of global disarmament frameworks.
The report highlights India’s growing strategic profile, particularly in the context of global arms flows and nuclear developments. India was the second-largest importer of major arms during the 2020 to 2024 period, after Ukraine. Along with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, it accounted for 35 per cent of total global arms imports. The region of Asia and Oceania received the largest share of arms transfers globally, although overall imports to the region declined by 21 per cent compared to 2015 to 2019. France, the United States and Russia remained among India’s principal arms suppliers.
India is one of nine nuclear-armed states, with an estimated 180 nuclear warheads as of January 2025. As per the report, in 2024, it slightly expanded its nuclear arsenal and continued developing new types of delivery systems. Among the new capabilities under development are canisterized missiles, which can be transported with mated warheads and may, once operational, be capable of carrying multiple warheads during peacetime. India is also pursuing multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs), following trends among other nuclear powers.
As per the report, India, along with China, Pakistan, North Korea and Russia, is believed to be developing or deploying dual-capable missile systems. These efforts form part of a broader pattern of nuclear modernisation and regional competition, particularly in the Indo-Pacific.
In early 2025, tensions between India and Pakistan briefly escalated into armed conflict. SIPRI notes that strikes on nuclear-related military infrastructure, combined with third-party disinformation, risked turning a conventional confrontation into a nuclear crisis. This episode is cited as a warning against increased reliance on nuclear weapons in volatile security environments. The report also mentioned that India has produced plutonium primarily for use in nuclear weapons and remains outside the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. It has signed but not ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
While India was not involved in the use of missiles or armed UAVs in any active conflict theatre during 2024, it is identified among countries expanding and modernising these capabilities. The report situates India within a global context where arms control norms are weakening and emerging technologies are reshaping deterrence dynamics.
Overall, India’s strategic trajectory, as outlined in the SIPRI Yearbook 2025, reflects a steady expansion of its military and nuclear capabilities amid growing regional insecurity. The report reinforces the view that in the absence of robust arms control mechanisms and crisis stability measures, the risks of escalation, particularly in South Asia, remain high.