when did pakistan get nukes

3 days ago 15
Nature

Pakistan's nuclear weapons program was initiated in 1972 by then-Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, following Pakistan's defeat in the 1971 war with India. The program gained momentum after India's 1974 nuclear test. Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan played a critical role by bringing uranium enrichment technology from Europe, enabling Pakistan to produce weapons-grade uranium by 1985. Pakistan is believed to have possessed nuclear weapons since the mid-1980s. However, Pakistan publicly demonstrated its nuclear capability by conducting its first nuclear tests on May 28, 1998, in response to India's nuclear tests earlier that month. Pakistan detonated five nuclear devices in the Ras Koh Hills in Balochistan and a sixth device two days later. These tests marked Pakistan officially as a nuclear power state. In summary:

  • Nuclear program started: 1972
  • Likely achieved nuclear weapon capability: mid-1980s
  • Public nuclear tests conducted: May 28 and 30, 1998

Pakistan thus officially "got nukes" and became a nuclear power in 1998, although it had the capability earlier in the 1980s.