Quantum technology has the potential to transform computing, communication, and security, and it holds significant implications for national security. This paper examines the development of quantum technology in India and its national security implications for Pakistan. India's significant investment in quantum technology, primarily through the National Quantum Mission (NQM), is expected to establish India as an influential state in the field. This paper aims to fill a critical gap in the existing body of knowledge by answering important questions: how India is planning to develop quantum technology? How this could be a potential national security issues for Pakistan? These concerns include the weakening of conventional security measures and the necessity to strengthen cyber and defense capabilities. This study employs a qualitative methodology, utilizing primary and secondary data. The results emphasize the need for Pakistan to allocate resources towards quantum research, produce quantum-resistant technology, and bolster its intelligence and surveillance infrastructure to maintain strategic stability.
Quantum technology has the potential to transform computing, communication, and security, and it holds significant implications for national security. This paper examines the development of quantum technology in India and its national security implications for Pakistan. India's significant investment in quantum technology, primarily through the National Quantum Mission (NQM), is expected to establish India as an influential state in the field. This paper aims to fill a critical gap in the existing body of knowledge by answering important questions: how India is planning to develop quantum technology? How this could be a potential national security issues for Pakistan? These concerns include the weakening of conventional security measures and the necessity to strengthen cyber and defense capabilities. This study employs a qualitative methodology, utilizing primary and secondary data. The results emphasize the need for Pakistan to allocate resources towards quantum research, produce quantum-resistant technology, and bolster its intelligence and surveillance infrastructure to maintain strategic stability.
In the global race toward quantum computing supremacy and frontier-technology leadership, India has embarked on an ambitious trajectory. With the approval of the National Quantum Mission (NQM)—allocating ₹6,003.65 crore for 2023–24 to 2030–31—and the emergence of indigenous quantum computing hardware such as QpiAI-Indus (25-qubit superconducting full-stack system), India is no longer a mere follower but an active contender in quantum technologies. This research article presents a comprehensive, qualitative and science-backed examination of India’s quantum computing revolution: its foundational research, strategic opportunities, governmental mission, industry implications, and projected roadmap for 2026 and beyond. We begin by situating quantum computing in global context and summarizing India’s historical and emerging contributions. Through a structured literature review, we identify gaps in devices, algorithms, applications and commercialization. Our methods combine a critical survey of peer-reviewed literature (journals, conference papers, white papers) together with policy documents and startup announcements, enabling synthesis of India-specific strengths, bottlenecks and growth levers. Key findings show that India is strengthening core capabilities in superconducting and photonic qubits, quantum communications (e.g., ISRO’s free–space quantum encryption demonstration), quantum sensing/metrology, and ecosystem building (startups, T-Hubs, public-private partnerships). The NQM’s structure of four Thematic Hubs and fourteen Technical Groups across 17 states reflects a strategic system-level design. Of particular note: the QpiAI-Indus quantum computer, supported under NQM, signals India’s first full-stack hardware-software quantum platform. Industry-impact sectors such as finance (quantum optimization), healthcare (drug discovery simulations), materials science (quantum-enabled materials), cybersecurity (post-quantum cryptography), defense and national infrastructure are poised for disruption. Yet significant challenges remain: shortage of quantum-skilled workforce, cryogenic infrastructure, error-correction scalability, IP-ecosystem gaps, and global competition. We discuss strategic opportunities—quantum cloud services, “quantum as a service (QaaS)”, regional quantum hubs like Bengaluru’s planned “Quantum City”, and cross-discipline synergies with AI and advanced materials. We conclude by presenting a forward-looking roadmap to 2030+, emphasizing scalable quantum devices (50-1000 qubits by 2030), ecosystem maturation, export potential, regulatory frameworks, and international collaboration. This research provides policymakers, researchers and industry stakeholders a holistic guide to India’s quantum journey and its implications for 2026 and beyond.
Quantum computing combines mathematics, quantum physics, and computer science to optimise, learn, and simulate chemical, physical, and biological systems.It offers the ability to solve problems in a unique method and to speed up solutions compared to standard procedures.This computing may solve issues with intractable inputs.With the capabilities of quantum computers and the availability of quantum development kits, quantum computing is expected to become ubiquitous, and the demand for trained people is expected to rise significantly.Quantum technologies are rapidly developing globally with substantial disruptive potential.Quantum technology is opening up new frontiers in computing, communications, and cyber security with widespread applications.The range of quantum technologies is expected to be one of the significant technology disruptions that will change the entire paradigm of computation, communication, and encryption.It is perceived that the countries that achieve an edge in this emerging field will have a more significant advantage in garnering multifold economic growth and dominant leadership roles.It is expected that lots of commercial applications will emerge from the developing theoretical constructs in this area.In India, there is a growing interest in quantum computing and communication with active participation from students, developers, industry, and academia, leading to many recent initiatives and developments.This article provides an overview of some of the recent developments of quantum computing in India and the future ahead.In its 2020 budget, the Indian government announced the National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications, which will be run by the Department of Science and Technology with a budget of 80 billion INR over five years [1].Among the next-generation technologies that will be pushed by this mission are quantum computers and computing, quantum communication, quantum key distribution, cryptanalysis, quantum devices, quantum sensing, quantum materials, quantum clocks, and so on.The mission will focus on basic science, technology development, building up human and infrastructure resources, innovation, and new businesses to solve problems that are important to the country.By putting the mission into action, India would be able to develop and use quantum computers, secure communications through fibre and free space, quantum encryption and cryptanalysis, and other related technologies.It would also be able to deal with national and regional problems that are unique to India.International Business Machines (IBM) and the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-Madras) joined forces in September 2022 to help India learn more about quantum computing and accelerate research [2].With this partnership, IIT Madras becomes one of the more than 180 members of the IBM Quantum Network around the world.IIT Madras is also the "first Indian institution" to join the global community of Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, academic institutions, and research labs working with IBM quantum technology to improve quantum computing and find business uses for it.As a member of the IBM Quantum Network, IIT Madras will have cloud-based access to IBM's most advanced quantum computing systems and IBM's quantum expertise.This will allow to look into real-world applications and see how this technology can help business and society in a wide range of ways.International Business Machines has also taken a number of steps to promote quantum computing in India and make it more well-known.IBM has made Qiskit, an open-source software development kit for the quantum developer community.The textbook "Qiskit" is available in Tamil, Bengali, and Hindi, and students in India accessed it more than 30,000 times in 2021 alone.Through the IBM Quantum Educators Programme, IBM works together with some of India's best schools.For educational purposes, teachers and students at these schools will be able to use IBM Cloud to access quantum systems, quantum learning resources, and quantum tools.With help from the National Security Council Secretariat, the Indian Army set up a laboratory for quantum computing and a centre for artificial intelligence at the Military College of
A new paradigm in computing called quantum computing has the potential to change many industries, including the military and government. The purpose of this study is to examine the applications, opportunities, difficulties, and prospects of quantum computing in these fields. The paper provides a comprehensive introduction to quantum computing, highlighting its distinctions from conventional computing, and discussing a range of quantum computing technologies. It examines the present and foreseeable uses of quantum computing in government and defense, including high-performance computing, cybersecurity and encryption, intelligence and surveillance, and logistics. Additionally, it looks at how quantum computing might advance national security, facilitate better decision-making, and speed up research and development. Also, it discusses issues with quantum computing, such as its exorbitant cost, security issues as well as a trained personnel shortage. The paper concludes by examining the potential applications of quantum computing in these fields, including their integration with conventional computing systems, the research and development of quantum technologies, public-private sector partnerships, and their potential to spur innovation and alter military and governmental operations. The report comes to the conclusion that, despite the difficulties, quantum computing holds great promise for transforming the public and defense sectors. More research and development are essential to accomplish this promise.
Quantum technology is one of the new and advanced technologies to support national defense. Therefore, we ask a research question: what are the forms of applying quantum technology to help national defense and security in the future? For this reason, we use a literature study to answer this research question so that the desired results are obtained. From the research conducted, there are various benefits derived from applying quantum technology to support national defense and security. Including detecting hidden enemy forces, supporting operations in an environment with decreased GPS, protecting highly classified data from enemy attacks, and various other benefits that did not obtain from previous technologies. Thus, a country needs to study and develop quantum technology to support national defense and security in the future. Given the growing development of technology, the threats posed are increasingly varied.
India is living through a digital revolution at a scale few countries have attempted. From Aadhaar- enabled identity services and UPI-based real-time payments to National Health Systems Resources, telecom networks, and advanced biomedical research, data has become the invisible infrastructure of governance, science, and the economy. India's digital public infrastructure is advancing from the classical to the quantum era. Its four strategic pillars: communication, sensing, computing, and cryptography promise transformative benefits in various sectors, i.e., pharmaceuticals, finance, artificial intelligence (AI), logistics, space exploration, and energy. However, the same leap in computing power introduces a profound risk for data security systems. As new technologies advance, widely used encryption and digital signature methods will become vulnerable. Many critical data types, such as identity records, healthcare data, financial archives, and scientific repositories, must remain confidential. India will therefore need a shift to post-quantum cryptography (PQC), a new generation of data security systems designed to resist attacks from powerful quantum computers. PQC should be the immediate imperative because of the harvest now, decrypt later' threat, i.e., data encrypted today can be collected and decrypted later once sufficiently capable quantum capabilities evolve. In other words, while quantum risks may take years to hit, the countdown has already begun.
Quantum computing is one of the evolving fields within computer science. It leverages benefits from physics, mathematics, and quantum principles in order to develop a computer with capabilities not ever witnessed before. Such a computer is based on complex physics and is able to store and process data in units of "qubits" that enable electronics or photons to be available in more than one state simultaneously. A distinguishing characteristic of a quantum computer is its ability to perform certain calculations and solve or simulate complex problems exponentially faster than classical computers. From a governmental perspective, such a technology is a double-edged sword. A quantum computer that is able to break public-key cryptography may pose threats due to its potential to leak confidential and sensitive government information. On the other hand, quantum cryptography and quantum key distribution can lead to a secured communication where exchanged data are secured against cyber-attacks. Despite the absence of a fully realized quantum computer model, governments worldwide recognize the substantial potential of quantum technology to drive economic development and safeguard critical national security data, they have actively positioned themselves in the race to advance quantum technology. This survey reviews the research and development of several branches of quantum computing used for critical national infrastructures. It aims to map potential use cases of quantum computing with critical national infrastructure applications. The survey is divided into two main sections, namely, quantum communication and cryptography, and quantum networks, where each of these is further reviewed from different angles. This includes opportunities and challenges quantum computing can pose for governmental communications. Also, it reviews the advancement of quantum satellites and quantum drones for establishing a reliable quantum network. In addition, it touches on the use of quantum technologies within the realm of space. From the reviewed studies in this survey, it is concluded that despite the substantial effort and research in the quantum computing field, the practical integration of quantum computing into national infrastructure needs to be further studied to assess its implementation feasibility.