US To Resume Nuclear Testing After 33 Years – Is This India’s Moment To Test A Cataclysmic Hydrogen Bomb Now? | World News

Washington/New Delhi/Beijing: The United States has announced plans to resume nuclear testing for the first time in 33 years. The announcement was made ahead of a planned meeting between Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping. The US president said the move was aimed at countering Russia and China’s rapid accumulation of weapons. He also claimed that Washington has the largest arsenal in the world, with Moscow ranked second and Beijing third.

U.S. officials described the decision as a timely response to Russia’s recent tests of long-range nuclear-capable systems and China’s growing arsenal. Reports said Beijing was expanding its stockpile and testing a non-nuclear thermonuclear device. Analysts believe that these developments are reshaping the global security environment.

The United States last conducted an underground nuclear test in Nevada in 1992, carrying out its 1,054th test. The new policy reverses decades of gun reduction efforts, officials said. Trump’s comments framed the move as necessary to keep up with strategic rivals.

Analysts and former officials in India have begun assessing what the US move could mean for New Delhi. India may now have reason to consider a thermonuclear test to strengthen its deterrent against China, an expert who previously advised the Indian government said. He recalled India’s failed attempts to achieve full thermonuclear success in 1998 and suggested that New Delhi may have to demonstrate its strategic capacity if tensions escalate.

Observers also noted that past international efforts to restrict testing had failed to prevent nuclear expansion in South Asia. They said the pressure to ban testing in the 1990s did not prevent India and Pakistan from holding trials in 1998. Analysts said Western governments should take India’s evolving security needs seriously if India decides to strengthen its deterrent posture.

Commentators in India offered historical context, recalling that some scientists had long argued for keeping the nuclear testing option open during earlier negotiations. Some strategists have stated that they believe thermonuclear capacity would serve as a stronger deterrent in the region.

The public debate has already begun in India. Some warned that a new test by India could prompt a strong response from Pakistan, while others said renewed global testing could restart the nuclear arms race. International monitoring organizations currently list nine nuclear-armed countries with total arsenals of about 13,000 weapons, far fewer than the 60,000 weapons recorded at the height of the Cold War.

Open source data shows that most of the warheads deployed in the world are in the hands of the United States and Russia. According to forecasts, China is expanding rapidly. India and Pakistan’s warheads are believed to remain in the low hundreds.

The US decision has reignited the long-running debate on nuclear deterrence and strategic stability in Asia. Great power decisions often reshape regional security equations, experts said.