Nuclear-armed nations are deepening their reliance on their nuclear weapons, watchdog finds
Copenhagen/Denmark (AP): The world's nine nuclear-armed states continue to modernise their nuclear weapons as the countries deepened their reliance on such deterrence in 2023, a Swedish think tank said on Monday.
“We have not seen nuclear weapons playing such a prominent role in international relations since the Cold War,” said Wilfred Wan, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's weapons of mass destruction programme.
Earlier this month, Russia and its ally Belarus launched a second stage of drills intended to train their troops in tactical nuclear weapons, part of the Kremlin's efforts to discourage the West from ramping up support for Ukraine.
In a separate report, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, ICAN, said the nine nuclear-armed states spent a combined total of USD 91.4 billion on their arsenals in 2023 – equivalent to USD 2,898 per second.
The Geneva-based coalition of disarmament activists won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.
The group said that figures show a USD 10.7 billion increase in global spending on nuclear weapons in 2023 compared to 2022, with the United States accounting for 80 per cent of that increase. The US share of total spending, USD 51.5 billion, is more than all the other nuclear-armed countries put together.
“There has been a notable upward trend in the amount of money devoted to developing these most inhumane and destructive of weapons over the past five years,” said Alicia Sanders-Zakre, Policy and Research Coordinator with ICAN.
The next biggest spender was China at USD 11.8 billion, she said, with Russia spending the third largest amount at USD 8.3 billion.
“All this money is not improving global security, in fact it's threatening people wherever they live,” Sanders-Zakre said.
SIPRI estimated that some 2,100 of the deployed warheads were kept in a state of high operational alert on ballistic missiles, and nearly all belong to Russia or the USA. However, it said that China is also believed to have some warheads on high operational alert for the first time.
“Regrettably we continue to see year-on-year increases in the number of operational nuclear warheads,” said Dan Smith, SIPRI's director. He added that the trend will likely accelerate in the coming years “and is extremely concerning”.
Russia and the United States have together almost 90 per cent of all nuclear weapons, SIPRI said. The sizes of their military stockpiles seem to have remained relatively stable in 2023, although Russia is estimated to have deployed around 36 more warheads with operational forces than in January 2023, the watchdog added.
In its SIPRI Yearbook 2024, the institute said that transparency regarding nuclear forces has declined in both countries in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and debates around nuclear-sharing arrangements have increased in importance.
Washington suspended its bilateral strategic stability dialogue with Russia, and last year Moscow announced that it was suspending its participation in t he New START nuclear treaty.
Of the total global inventory of an estimated 12,121 warheads in January, about 9,585 were in military stockpiles for potential use. An estimated 3,904 of those warheads were deployed with missiles and aircraft — which is 60 more than in January 2023 — and the rest were in central storage.
In Asia, India, Pakistan and North Korea are all pursuing the capability to deploy multiple warheads on ballistic missiles, the institute said. The United States, Russia, France, UK and China already have that capacity, enabling a rapid potential increase in deployed warheads, as well as the possibility for nuclear-armed countries to threaten the destruction of significantly more targets.
SIPRI stressed that all estimates were approximate, and the institute revises its world nuclear forces data each year based on new information and updates to earlier assessments.
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BAMUL president slams Flipkart over selling milk for Re 1 per litre
Bengaluru (PTI): Bangalore Milk Union Ltd president D K Suresh on Saturday claimed that e-commerce giant Flipkart is selling milk for Re 1 through "investor-funded discount campaigns", accusing it of undermining the dignity of farmers and the cooperative movement built over decades.
He has lodged a complaint against Flipkart before the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and also written an email to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking investigation into "predatory pricing" of milk by the quick commerce platform and its impact on dairy farmers and cooperative institutions.
However, Flipkart said in a statement that it periodically runs limited promotional campaigns on select products available on the platform, often in partnership with banking partners, to enhance customer value.
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"Prices of products on the Flipkart marketplace are determined by individual sellers. All dairy partners and sellers continue to receive their full agreed price for the products they supply, and farmer procurement prices are not impacted in any way," a Flipkart spokesperson said.
Flipkart further said it remains committed to working with farmers, cooperatives and sellers across India to expand market access and support their growth.
Suresh, brother of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and also a former MP, slammed Flipkart for its latest move.
Taking to social media platform 'X', the Bangalore Milk Union Ltd (BAMUL) president said that milk is not a Re 1 flash deal. It is the livelihood of millions of farmers.
"Behind every litre of milk is the sweat, labour, and livelihood of our farmers. Predatory discounting by companies like Flipkart weakens India's dairy cooperatives and hurts farmer incomes," he said.
He urged both the central and the state governments to act immediately to protect the farmers and the cooperative movement.
In another post, Suresh said that milk is not a marketing gimmick. It is the livelihood of millions of dairy farmers who work every day to feed this nation.
"Flipkart is selling milk for Re 1 through investor-funded discount campaigns and is undermining the dignity of farmers and the cooperative movement built over decades," he added, urging public to choose farmers, cooperatives and Nandini, a dairy brand owned by the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF).
Speaking to reporters here earlier in the day, he said that a complaint would be lodged against Flipkart before the Competition Commission of India (CCI) under Section 19(1)(a) over the company's move to sell one litre of milk for Re 1.
He alleged that such competition aimed at capturing the market would hit farmers hard.
"Around Rs 2,000 crore has reportedly been spent on this initiative. It is not appropriate to misuse public shareholders' money in this manner," he said.
According to him, the move could undermine long-standing milk cooperative institutions that have existed since the pre-Independence period.
"Multinational companies are working against farmers' interests. They should clearly state in their advertisements how long they will sell milk at such low prices. Flipkart must withdraw from this move that harms the farming community," he added.
Suresh claimed that 14.5 lakh litres of milk had already been sold under the scheme and advertisements had been issued widely.
"Public money is being invested to attract customers. The company should disclose how long it plans to sell milk at this price," he said.
Responding to a question on whether the sales of Nandini milk had dropped, he said several brands operate in the market and not just Nandini.
"BAMUL's sales have dropped by about 40,000-50,000 litres. We need to ascertain how long this decline has continued," he said.
Asked if other entities were behind the scheme, he said information was still being gathered. "I have seen a couple of advertisements and will also discuss the matter with officials. Under the guise of business, it is not right to ignite a crisis for the farming community," he said.
Suresh said farmers are currently paid Rs 38-40 per litre for milk. "How can they sell it for Re 1? "We need to find out from whom they are purchasing the milk and where it is coming from," he said.
When asked whether farmers should be advised not to sell milk to such companies, Suresh said it was not clear where the company was procuring milk from, including bulk producers.
"We are also checking whether milk powder is being mixed. I have asked for samples and instructed that they be tested in laboratories. If cooperative institutions collapse, the direct impact will be on farmers," he added.
