nuclear-armed states

India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh declared that any terrorist attack launched from Pakistan against India will now be treated as an act of war. The warning marks a sharp escalation in New Delhi's stated posture toward cross-border militancy and is likely to further heighten tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, which have long disputed Pakistan's role in harboring militant groups.

Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has called for renewed negotiations among nuclear-armed states, marking 35 years since the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. He warned that global arms-control safeguards are weakening and urged world powers to return to the negotiating table, drawing on Kazakhstan's history as the site of hundreds of Soviet nuclear tests.

The United Nations is convening a high-level plenary meeting to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. The annual observance brings member states together to reaffirm commitments to nuclear disarmament and discuss progress toward a world free of nuclear arms. Speeches typically highlight tensions among nuclear-armed states and calls for renewed disarmament efforts.

Kazakhstan is positioning itself as a possible technical partner should renewed Iran nuclear talks focus on how enriched uranium is handled. The proposal would give Astana a diplomatic role in a dispute involving Iran and the IAEA, drawing on its own experience as a former nuclear-armed state with established nonproliferation credentials and uranium expertise.

September 26 is the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, observed annually at the United Nations. Advocacy groups, including faith-based and human rights organisations, are marking the day with calls for disarmament, urging nuclear-armed states to renew commitments toward a world free of nuclear weapons amid ongoing global tensions.