azfar bilal

Associate Director Research at CISSS

[azfar bilal @AzfarBilalCISSS]

Achieving a remarkable improvement in the pretigious QS University ranking of 170 in a single year. This achievement is manifestation of the dexterity & commitment of the entire community of PIEAS in rising from 721-730 Group to 560th ranked International University in the World.

[Radioactive Friends @RadioactiveFrnd]

A remarkable achievement 🇵🇰

#PIEAS has surged to 560th position in the QS World University Rankings, up from the 721–730 band, making it the 3rd highest-ranked university in #Pakistan.
#PakistanForPeace
#pakistangoesglobal

[CISSS @CISSS_Karachi]

CISSS Publication | International Affairs Forum

Book Review | Age of Deception: Cybersecurity as Secret Statecraft

Author: Research Assistant Ali Hamza

Link ⬇️

https://t.co/GZR4ePQx3a

[Zahir Kazmi @zahirhkazmi]

The capability exists. The partnership exists.

But there are no permanent friends in international relations.

The historical warning from 1964 remains relevant.

History is never boring but learning from it can be.

Read: https://t.co/azeYQF9bcp

#NuclearHistory #USIndia #Nonproliferation #StrategicPartnership #ColdWarHistory

@BrookingsInst @ForeignAffairs @ChathamHouse @IFRI_ @FRS_org @SWPBerlin

7/7

[Zahir Kazmi @zahirhkazmi]

🧨 In 1961, a top-secret State Department memo to Secretary Dean Rusk revealed that “people throughout the State Department seriously contemplated helping India acquire a nuclear explosive.”

The memo proposed that India should detonate a nuclear device first to “beat Communist China to the punch,” calling India the “no likelier candidate.”

Must credit @PerkovichG for his seminal & unparalleled work, India’s Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999), 52.

#NuclearHistory #USIndia #Nonproliferation

@ucpress @BrookingsInst

[Zahir Kazmi @zahirhkazmi]

Indian strategic thinkers and former military leaders have also written openly about long-range reach and second-strike capabilities.

See, for example, assessments in The Writing on the Wall: India Checkmates America 2017 by former Chief of Army Staff General S. Padmanabhan.

Link: https://t.co/Bn85y6tBGC

6/7
@Heritage @BelferCenter @BulletinAtomic @StimsonCenter

[Zahir Kazmi @zahirhkazmi]

Were the 1960s U.S. assessments about Indian nuclear capabilities overly alarmist or were they simply early recognition of a long-term reality that is now visible?

Modern-day Dr. Frankenstein moment, or prudent foresight?

#NuclearHistory #USIndia #Nonproliferation #StrategicPartnership #AgniMissile #ColdWar

5/7

@RadioactiveFrnd @CISS_Islamabad

[Zahir Kazmi @zahirhkazmi]

Fast forward to today:

Bharat is officially a “strategic partner” of the United States.

It also possesses Agni-V missiles with intercontinental range and is developing Agni-VI. Read @ejazhaider https://t.co/5yJ5TzKvoM

Its SSBNs armed with K4 and K15 SLBMs already give it extended reach.

It has the fastest growing nuclear warheads development program in the world.

The raw technical capability the 1964 memo feared India could one day acquire now exists!

4/7

[Zahir Kazmi @zahirhkazmi]

By then, 🇺🇸 and 🇨🇦 had already helped lay the foundation of India’s nuclear infrastructure through Atoms for Peace assistance, including heavy water for the CIRUS reactor.

Some in Washington were already worried they might be creating a long-term strategic problem for themselves.

Others were internally discussing the possibility of giving nuclear weapons or technology to India as a hedge against 🇨🇳

3/7

[Zahir Kazmi @zahirhkazmi]

This memo examined how cheap it would be for India to build a basic nuclear device vs how expensive a real delivery system would be.

It also warned of a potential chain reaction across Asia, especially in Pakistan and Japan.

@clary_co @nadeemkhan_2000 @zafar_jaspal @RadioactiveFrnd @AsmaKhawaja5 @zafarwafa1977

2/7

[Zahir Kazmi @zahirhkazmi]

💣 In December 1964, a senior U.S. Defense Department official wrote a secret memo titled The Indian Nuclear Problem.
One key assessment was stark:
“One consequence of an Indian program is that one more national state, India, could some day be able to attack the United States with nuclear weapons.”
Source: Declassified DoD memo by Henry S. Rowen, 24 December 1964
https://t.co/RyGWWXtwlW
1/7

@RadioactiveFrnd @CISS_Islamabad @ciss_ajk @CISSS_Karachi @bttn_quetta @SVI_Pakistan @IDSAIndia @orfonline @TahirAndrabi

[Rabia Akhtar @Rabs_AA]

Everyone is talking about India's 190 warheads after the release of @SIPRIorg SIPRI's Yearbook 2026!

I think they're looking at the wrong number.

The more important question is whether South Asia is quietly moving toward a posture of higher nuclear readiness.

If so, the implications go far beyond warhead counts.

Canisterization. SSBN patrols. MIRVs. Missile defenses. AI-enabled ISR.

Technology is accelerating.

Can crisis management keep up?

New video 👇

#SIPRI2026 #MindOverMic #NuclearDeterrence #StrategicStability

[CISSS @CISSS_Karachi]

CISSS Publication | Centre for Strategic and Contemporary Research (CSCR)

Op-Ed | How Algorithmic Bias in Military AI Challenges IHL

Author: Research Officer Iraj Abid

Link ⬇️

https://t.co/0MyuXcty8o

[azfar bilal @AzfarBilalCISSS]

@SIPRIorg From 0 to 12 in one year with 190 warheads; SIPRI 2026 report reveals🇮🇳's 12 deployed nuclear warheads. With Agni 5&6 ICBMs, SSBNs & K series SLBMs,🇮🇳's nuclear arsenal reach includes 🇺🇸 & 🇪🇺.India's nuclear threat is now global & ready. A threat to 🌎 peace & strategic stability

[azfar bilal @AzfarBilalCISSS]

From 0 to 12 in one year with 190 warheads; SIPRI 2026 report reveals🇮🇳's 12 deployed nuclear warheads. With Agni 5&6 ICBMs, SSBNs & K series SLBMs,🇮🇳's nuclear arsenal reach includes 🇺🇸 & 🇪🇺.India's nuclear threat is now global & ready. A threat to 🌎 peace & strategic stability

[SIPRI @SIPRIorg]

Of the total global inventory of an estimated 12 187 warheads in January 2026, about 9745 were in military stockpiles for potential use.
Learn more ➡️ https://t.co/LTARRAnwmo

#SIPRIYearbook2026 #NuclearWeapons #ArmsControl #NuclearRisk #Disarmament #NonProliferation

[azfar bilal @AzfarBilalCISSS]

@ExecDirCISSS From 0 to 12 in one year with 190 warheads; SIPRI 2026 report reveals🇮🇳's 12 deployed nuclear warheads. With Agni 5&6 ICBMs, SSBNs & K series SLBMs,🇮🇳's nuclear arsenal reach includes 🇺🇸 & 🇪🇺.India's nuclear threat is now global & ready. A threat to 🌎 peace & strategic stability

[Amb (R) Qazi M. Khalilullah @ExecDirCISSS]

Latest SIPRI Data: India had 180 nuclear warheads with 0 deployed in 2025 and 190 with 12 deployed in Jan 2026-Ominous development for regional & International strategic stability, peace & security, when viewed with 🇮🇳n ICBMs & SLBMs capable of hitting all capitals of the world.

[The STRATCOM Bureau @OSPSF]

Rumors are swirling that Ithe Indian Army Chief, General Upendra Dwivedi refused to salute CDS General N.S. Raja Subramani, saying he still considers him as his junior. The new CDS had served under the current COAS but was superseded due to his junior's closeness to NSA Ajit Doval and BJP-RSS circles!

Gen Dwivedi who was commissioned a year before Gen Subramani, and now gets a taste of Supersession!

Gen Subramani was his Vice Chief for nearly a year but is now the CDS and senior to him. So he becomes the First Superseded COAS.

Reportedly, General Dwivedi has even warned to Resign from the Indian Army, after a Heated Argument with CDS General Raja Subramani on this Matter.

This Incident is enough to Expose the Internal Rift and Hierarchy issues the Indian Armed Forces.

[azfar bilal @AzfarBilalCISSS]

@RadioactiveFrnd 🇮🇳's rejection of the joint statement by EU &🇵🇰 cannot change ground facts. Jammu & Kashmir is disputed territory since 1948 &🇮🇳 itself took the issue to the UN. 🇮🇳 will have to give the right of self-derermination to the people of J&K & end its illegal occupation @kajakallas #UN

[Radioactive Friends @RadioactiveFrnd]

#NewDelhi can reject statements, but it cannot reject reality. #JammuandKashmir remains an internationally recognized #Dispute, and attempts to silence discussion only highlight India's discomfort with global scrutiny of its policies in the region.
#Trump #India #EU #Pakistan

[ALIHAMZA @AHAMZACISSS1]

Diplomatic objections cannot rewrite history. Jammu & Kashmir has remained on the UN agenda since 1948 as an obligation that 🇮🇳 needs to fulfill & continues to have implications for regional peace & security. Lasting peace lies in constructive engagement & a just resolution, not in denying established realities.

#India #UN #Pakistan #EU #JammuandKashmir