Pakistan 1st Nuclear Bomb: Tensions between India and Pakistan continued to rise after India launched Operation Sindoor after the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir. 

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As the two nations edge closer to an all-out war, the world is staring at an unprecedented reality: An all-out war between India and Pakistan would be the first ever between two nuclear-armed nations.

Anyone who has thought even briefly about the reality of nuclear war between the two countries knows how reckless such threats are, considering the devastation it would cause both sides.

But how did it come to this? How did nuclear weapons become such a part of India and Pakistan’s rivalry?

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How did Pakistan get its first nuclear bomb?

While the historical record is rather unclear, the story of Pakistan’s nuclear quest could be traced back to October 1964, when China tested its first atomic weapon.

Also read: Inside India, Pakistan’s nuclear arsenals: Who has more, and what would happen if New Delhi, Islamabad unleash their nukes?

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Just days later, India’s top nuclear scientist, Homi Bhabha, went on All India Radio and said something remarkable: India could build 50 nuclear bombs for just $21 million. He claimed it was cheap and achievable, even for a country still struggling after Partition.

At the same time, Bhabha made it clear that if the world moved towards disarmament, India might not need to build bombs at all. But China, Britain, France, and others were busy building their arsenals. Disarmament wasn’t happening.

India’s signal, that it could go nuclear if it wanted, didn’t go unnoticed by Pakistan.

Pakistan feared getting left behind

At that time, Pakistan’s foreign minister was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. In 1965, British journalist Patrick Keatley reported deep worries inside Pakistan’s Defence Ministry. Officials feared that one morning, they might wake up to the news that India had become a nuclear power, and Pakistan would have no answer.

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Bhutto famously said, “If India builds the bomb, we will eat grass or leaves, even go hungry, but we will get one of our own.”

Later that year, Bhutto and President Ayub Khan visited Beijing and met Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. Bhutto would later claim that he asked for China’s help with nuclear technology, though some historians don't believe that.

Building the bomb became a national mission

Although Pakistan officially says it only started working on nuclear weapons after India’s 1974 test, the planning seems to have begun much earlier.

In January 1972, just weeks after Pakistan’s defeat in the Bangladesh war, Bhutto called a meeting of scientists at Multan. There, he urged them to build a bomb, fast. He wanted Pakistan to match the timeline of America’s Manhattan Project, which had developed the first nuclear bombs in three years.

For Bhutto, nuclear weapons weren’t just about defence. After losing East Pakistan, he saw them as essential for survival. He also believed they would give Pakistan leverage over India and help him balance the power of the military at home.

But Pakistan faced big challenges

Unlike India, Pakistan didn’t have the industrial strength or scientific know-how to build a bomb on its own. It needed outside help or another way.

In 1973, after an attempt to get technology from Britain failed, Pakistan quietly made a deal with Belgium to set up a small nuclear reprocessing plant. This allowed Pakistan to extract plutonium, the material needed for bombs, but only in small amounts.

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Pakistan also began talks with France for a much larger reprocessing plant. At the time, France was not bound by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and could technically sell such technology. But the negotiations dragged on.

Later, Pakistan’s top nuclear scientist Munir Ahmad Khan admitted that while they had hoped to build everything themselves, technical and financial barriers forced them to “think differently.”

By 1974, India’s nuclear test, nicknamed the "Smiling Buddha", changed everything. The race was officially on.

Around this time, a Pakistani metallurgist named Abdul Qadeer Khan, working in Europe, offered his services to Bhutto. Khan said he could help Pakistan build its own nuclear bomb.

In early 1976, AQ Khan returned to Pakistan, carrying stolen blueprints from the Dutch company Urenco. These designs showed how to enrich uranium, the key to making a nuclear bomb. It was a massive breakthrough for Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the US was putting pressure on France to cancel its nuclear deal with Pakistan. France agreed, but not before Pakistan had learned a lot.

Quiet progress behind the scenes

Although France officially cancelled the reprocessing deal in 1978, it was too late. AQ Khan opened another path for Pakistan, which was uranium enrichment.

Building the technology took time, but by the late 1980s, Pakistan was believed to have a basic nuclear weapon.

During the tense military standoff known as Operation Brasstacks in 1986-87, Pakistan’s implied nuclear capability likely helped deter full-scale war with India.

Pakistan goes public

In 1992, Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary made it clear for the first time that Pakistan could assemble a nuclear bomb. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif later confirmed it more openly during a speech in Muzaffarabad, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Even when the US tried to offer Pakistan advanced F-16 jets in exchange for slowing down its programme, Pakistan refused. The bomb had become a matter of national pride.

The tests of 1998

In May 1998, after India conducted nuclear tests, Pakistan responded with tests of its own.

The two countries then signed the Lahore Declaration, agreeing to improve communication and reduce the risk of nuclear war.

India later announced a "no first use" policy, promising not to launch a nuclear attack unless attacked first. Pakistan hasn’t made such a commitment but insists its weapons are for defence only.

Currently, India is believed to have around 180 nuclear warheads, while Pakistan is estimated to have about 170. If you want to read more about how a nuclear war between India and Pakistan would look like, consider reading the following article:

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