HC Deb 05 May 1987 vol 115 c365W
Mr. Marlow

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has as to which countries possess a military nuclear capability, showing in each case the implications of such capability for the defence of the United Kingdom.

Mr. Younger

Apart from our NATO allies, France and the United States, two other countries—the Soviet Union and China—are nuclear weapons states; both also possess the associated delivery systems which could threaten the United Kingdom. In 1974 India exploded a nuclear device. Several other countries have carried out research into nuclear weapons and a few of these countries may be close to developing the capability to make them.