According to the annual report on threat assessment of the ‘US Intelligence Community’ presented in the US Senate on Wednesday (March 18, 2026), there remains a risk of nuclear conflict due to relations between India and Pakistan.
According to this 34-page report, India and Pakistan do not want to start a direct conflict, yet conditions exist to promote crisis for terrorist elements. The document says, ‘There is a risk of nuclear conflict due to India-Pakistan relations because there have been conflicts between these two nuclear power countries in the past, which has created a risk of increasing tension. Last year’s terrorist attack near Pahalgam in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has made clear the dangers of terrorist attacks provoking conflict.
The document said, ‘President Donald Trump’s intervention has reduced recent nuclear tensions and our assessment is that no country wants to return to open conflict, but conditions exist that encourage terrorist actors to face threats.’ “Relations between Pakistan and the Taliban remain tense and cross-border clashes continue to occur, as Islamabad continues to be frustrated by the presence of anti-Pakistan terrorist groups in Afghanistan, while Islamabad faces increasing terrorist violence,” the document said.
US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard told lawmakers on Wednesday that Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missiles may include missiles capable of targeting the US. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also said before the Senate Intelligence Committee that the threat posed to the US is expected to increase from less than 3,000 missiles currently to more than 16,000 missiles by 2035.
Tulsi Gabbard said that America’s secure nuclear deterrent ensures the country’s security from strategic threats. He said, ‘However, Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and Pakistan are researching and developing several innovative, advanced or conventional missile delivery systems equipped with nuclear and conventional payloads, which could put our country at risk.’
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