Pakistan's Nuclear Program: Choices and Turning Points

Pakistan’s nuclear weapon decision-making apparatus, comprising the military and the civil bureaucracy i.e. included nuclear scientists, secretaries in authorities all.

In 1990’s Pakistan’s nuclear program working secretly but the decision making authorities confused due to tussle in the Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan region. Pakistan’s policymakers have three choices:- To adopt an overt nuclear weapons posture, to maintain the new status quo overt but without opting for deployment of nuclear weapons and their delivery system and last option, to roll back the nuclear weapons program and accept the international non-proliferation regime.

In Pakistan ’s nuclear program with an overt nuclear program after 1998’s Indian Pokharan II test, this option carried on further domestic, regional and international variables.

In Domestic variable, Pakistan has a weak representative govt., direct or indirect authoritarian rule and an inept, divided political leadership. These factors provide a chance to military and its traditional stand towards Indian centric sentiments. This leads a constant increase in Military’s defence preparedness budget as well as for nuclear arsenals development project also.

In 1957, the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) was established to train nuclear scientists and to set up a nuclear research reactor. 1965, Indo-Pak war was a turning point for both India and Pakistan’s nuclear program. For India, China blackmailed India for a two-front war, which was a direct threat to India’s national interests. For Pakistan, defeat in spreading insurgency in the Kashmir and second in the direct war with India.

Pakistan did not sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation  Treaty(1968) because of growing support within policy-making circles of Pakistan for a nuclear weapon capability. After Pakistan’s defeat in the 1971 Indo-Pak war which divided East Pakistan as a new country Bangladesh. This made Pakistan more offensive, the military use of nuclear power became the focal point of Pakistan’s nuclear policy. In March 1972, Pakistan’s PM Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto with the support of the military and the civil bureaucracy, he adopted an aggressive nuclear program. Pak Further increased its activities after India detonated a nuclear device in May 1974, as a turning point.

In 1976, Nuclear deal with France, Pakistani govt. claimed that it intended to set-up a large number of nuclear power plants to help Pak meet its energy needs. But this deal generates the Pak’s nuclear apparatus. In August 1976, Henry Kissinger visited Pakistan in an effort to a complaint about this but failed. In 1996, Pakistan not signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) also by following the footprints of India. 

After a breakthrough in Pak’s Nuclear program. Last turning point is the Indian Nuclear tests in 11 and 13 May 1998 and further Pakistan tested its nuclear weapons in 29 and 30 May 1998.