National

Youm-e-Takbeer: The day Pakistan became invincible

May 28, 2016

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Youm-e-Takbeer is celebrated every year in Pakistan on May 28 to commemorate the historic nuclear tests in 1998, which made Pakistan the first Muslim state equipped with the nuclear arsenal.
It is a reminder of the struggle and great odds that Pakistan overcame to build a nuclear weapon, despite starting with a weak technological base and facing strong countervailing pressure from the West.

Since its inception, Pakistan had been faced with the threat of Indian aggression. So it had to achieve invincibility which would come through the development of nuclear technology. The idea of becoming a nuclear state was first contemplated during the time of General Ayub Khan. However, the atomic program was formally initiated during the time of Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto after a meeting of physicists and engineers at Multan in January 1972, shortly after the loss of East Pakistan in 1971. India tested its “device” for the first time in 1974 which gave Pakistan’s nuclear program an altogether new momentum.
In June 1997, India started deploying missiles on their western border. It was a period of great tension with troop movement happening on both sides of the border and many believed that war between the countries was imminent.
On May 11, 1998 India tested three of its nukes and on May 13, tested yet another two nukes to show their strategic strength in the region. On March 18, after the explosions, their Home Minister L.K. Advani called on Pakistan to “realise the change in the geo-strategic situation in the region”. After much deliberation and in spite of extreme pressure from the West, not to respond with tests, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Mian Nawaz Sharif finally took the decision to test the Pakistani nukes for balancing the power in the region. Pakistan conducted its first test on May 28, 1998, by detonating five of its primary nuclear weapons at 1030 GMT at the Ras Koh hills in the Chaghai District of Balochistan. Shortly after the first test, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made a memorable address to the nation and said that the five tests by India had made the action “inevitable”. He said, “We never wanted to participate in this nuclear race. We have proved to the world that we would not accept what is dictated to us.”
Everyone knows that nuclear deterrence is a factor of stability in South Asia and Pakistan is committed to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes according to the international laws. As a responsible nuclear state, Pakistan would continue to contribute meaningfully towards the global efforts to improve nuclear security and nuclear non-proliferation measures.
Pakistan does not harbour any aggressive designs against any state and has no hegemonic aspirations in the region. Territorial integrity, political harmony and peace are the ultimate goals behind developing our nuclear arsenal.
Pakistan neither wants to, nor is it engaged in an arms race in South Asia. As a responsible nuclear weapon state, Pakistan will continue to support the objectives of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
However, the current government has serious concerns over growing conventional and strategic weapons’ development in the region. South Asia needs strategic stability and this requires serious dialogue to achieve nuclear restraint, conventional balance and conflict resolution.
Pakistan looks forward to playing its part to build a brighter era of peace and prosperity in South Asia. Therefore, our neighbours should also realise this and instead of wasting its energies in arms race, it should compete with Pakistan in the fields of development and progress.