On 13 October, Pakistan’s military media wing (ISPR) announced the test of the Fatah-2 ER, an extended-range variant of the Fatah-II, describing it as a hypersonic ballistic missile designed to defeat missile defences through its trajectory and manoeuvrability. The recently established Army Rocket Force Command (ARFC) conducted the launch.
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On October 14, the Chinese and Pakistani armies commenced a joint exercise designated as Karakoram-2026 at a training base in Korla, in China’s Xinjiang region. Beijing’s defence ministry called it “the first joint army training between the two countries” and said it would concentrate on counter-terrorism operations in high-altitude areas. The programme covers drone operation, shooting at moving targets, long-range sniping, joint command and live-troop drills.
The first-ever evaluation of Pakistan’s legislative and regulatory framework for nuclear security covering both he nuclear material and facilities has been conducted by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS). During 12- day review, the IPPAS teams viewed that “Pakistan has established a robust nuclear security regime for physical protection of nuclear material and nuclear facilities, which was observed to be appropriately implemented at the facility visited. The regime is continually improved and sustained through periodic reviews, and Pakistan’s well-established capacity building infrastructure benefits national, regional and international expertise in nuclear security.”
The international nuclear order has been transforming, witnessing both vertical and horizontal proliferation. Arms control arrangements have already been dismantled with the breakdown of New START between Russia and the United States (US) on 5 February 2026, and after the Iran-US war in the Middle East, the trust deficit has widened among NATO member allies regarding US security commitments. Moreover, the predatory approach of the Trump administration regarding the threat of annexation of Greenland from its NATO member ally, Denmark, engenders doubts among European NATO allies regarding the reliance on the US security guarantee.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is a cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime. It was opened for signature in July 1968, and it entered into force in March 1970 after extensive negotiations within the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament (ENCD) in Geneva. Initially, the treaty was ratified by the three depositary governments that were also de jure Nuclear Weapon States: The United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), along with forty other non-nuclear weapon states.
Every year, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) publishes a yearbook that accounts for global military spending, evaluates international arms transfers, analyzes world nuclear forces and surveys active regional conflicts. The SIPRI Yearbook published in June 2026 identifies unprecedented developments in South Asia.
On 30 September 2026, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced plans for an Autonomous Warfare Command, or AutoWarCom. The four-star combatant command, with service-like acquisition authorities, would build and supply robotic and autonomous capabilities across the joint force. The Pentagon’s memo targets October 2027, subject to congressional approval.
The general debate of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, which concluded in New York in September, showed how far the institution has drifted from its founding purpose. States continue to invoke the rules-based order while increasingly bypassing the body that embodies it.
For the last decade, India has been officially putting efforts into isolating Pakistan diplomatically in the global political arena. Indian Prime Minister Narender Modi, speaking at a public rally in 2016 in Kerala, promised he would isolate Pakistan diplomatically. In the years to come, India engaged its diplomatic machinery and established a strong case in Western capitals that Pakistan sponsors terrorism in India.
NATO’s biggest challenge may no longer be Russia’s military power, but uncertainty over the Alliance’s political cohesion. The 2026 Ankara Summit marked a transformation in NATO’s strategic trajectory: moving from pledging defence spending to producing the military capabilities required for deterrence. But the Alliance’s military consolidation is happening amid unprecedented questions about transatlantic political cohesion.
