India, Pak and China Increased Nuclear Arms Arsenal in 2012: Report

Bangalore: China, India and Pakistan- three of the world's nuclear powers have increased their nuclear armory over the past year, said the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The other five nuclear powers have cut their strength or kept it firm , reported AFP.

In 2012, the numbers of warheads in China, Pakistan, and India have increased from 240 to 250,100 to 120 and 90 to 110 respectively as stated by SIPRI in its annual report.

Since 2008, the arms race characterized by growing tensions, is all the more disturbing because of what the institute called a "fragile" peace in Asia as such tensions grew between India and Pakistan, China and Japan, and the two Koreas, among others.

"While states have avoided direct conflict with each other and have stopped supporting insurgent movements on each other's territory, decades-old suspicions linger and economic integration has not been followed up with political integration," SIPRI said.

Only Russia and United States- the two old superpowers have cut their warheads reducing its number from 10,000 to 8,500 and from 8,000 to 7,700 respectively, reported AFP.

SIPRI acknowledged the fact that the nuclear powers aren't equally transparent as the figures were to a large extent estimates, China being totally opaque, and Russia gradually becoming less open.

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