Countries of Proliferation Concern - India

India is one of the most recent entrants into the nuclear weapons arena. The NTI reports that India tested its first nuclear device in 1974 and performed five additional underground nuclear weapons tests in May 1998. India, one of a handful of states that refuses to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, has a strong nuclear power program, for which it receives assistance from a host of countries. It has developed ballistic missiles and advanced conventional weapons to serve as delivery modes for its nuclear warheads. Prithvi series missiles have ranges between 150 and 250 kilometers (ninety-three to 155 miles). The Danush is a naval version of the Prithvi with a range of 250 kilometers (155 miles). The Agni I is said to have a range of 700 to 750 kilometers (435–466 miles), while the Agni II is reported to have a range of 1,500 kilometers (932 miles). In September 2003 India announced plans to develop an Agni III missile with a range of three thousand kilometers (1,864 miles).

India ratified the CWC in 1996 and declared an existing stockpile of chemical weapons. Under terms of the CWC, it must destroy this weapons stockpile by 2007. There is little information on whether India has offensive biological weapons capabilities, although it possesses a strong civilian biotechnology infrastructure. India has been a signatory of the BTWC since 1974.