New Delhi, May 28 – Pakistan is modernising its nuclear arsenal with key support from China and continues to develop tactical nuclear weapons to counter India’s conventional military advantage, according to a new report from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).
The findings, released in the DIA’s 2025 Worldwide Threat Assessment, were presented to the U.S. House Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations by Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse, the agency’s director.
“Foreign materials and technology supporting Pakistan’s WMD programs are very likely acquired primarily from suppliers in China,” Kruse stated in the report, noting that procurement routes often include transshipment through Hong Kong, Singapore, Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates.
The report was published just two weeks after India and Pakistan de-escalated a four-day military confrontation that saw cross-border missile and drone strikes. U.S. President Donald Trump had claimed his administration brokered the ceasefire to avert a “bad nuclear war,” though New Delhi denied the assertion and said the proposal to halt operations came from Islamabad on May 10 following significant damage to Pakistani military assets.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on May 12 that “nuclear blackmail” would no longer deter India from responding strongly to cross-border terrorism.
According to the DIA, Pakistan views India as an “existential threat” and is likely to persist in its military modernisation, including the deployment of low-yield, battlefield nuclear weapons designed to deter Indian ground offensives.
“Pakistan is modernising its nuclear arsenal and maintaining the security of its nuclear materials and nuclear command and control,” the report stated. “Pakistan almost certainly procures WMD applicable goods from foreign suppliers and intermediaries.”
China has long been a principal supplier for Pakistan’s nuclear program, with support dating back to the 1960s. This has included the transfer of warhead designs, enriched fuel, dual-use technologies, delivery systems, and training of Pakistani scientific personnel, sources in New Delhi said.
Joint military cooperation between the two countries has intensified, with Pakistan conducting multiple annual exercises with China’s People’s Liberation Army, including a recent air exercise completed in November 2024. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported in June 2024 that India had increased its nuclear warheads from 164 to 172, while Pakistan’s count remained at 170.
The development and deployment of tactical nuclear weapons by Pakistan has raised international concerns, particularly in the U.S., over the risk of such portable and mobile weapons falling into the hands of non-state actors. Neither India nor Pakistan is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) or a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
