The Nuclear Situation in Pakistan

Historical Background

1947 British colonial India is divided into two independent states

Wars between India and Pakistan

1947-48 first war over Kashmir 1965 second Kashmir war 1999 fighting occurs in Kashmir region

The Separation of East and West Pakistan

1971 India supports East Pakistan's separation from the Pakistani state militarily

This is a humitiliating defeat for Pakistan which starts to develop a nuclear weapons program

The development of the Pakistani nuclear weapons program

1956 Atomic Energy Research Council 1965 first nuclear reactor built with US aid 1968 India and Pakistan refuse to sign the Non-

Proliferation Treaty 1972 decision to start a nuclear weapons

program

The development of the Pakistani nuclear weapons program

1974 First Indian „peaceful“ nuclear explosion leads to intensifying of the Pakistani nuclear weapons program

The development of the Pakistani nuclear weapons program

1974 nuclear scientist Abdul Qadir Khan offers his services to the Pakistani government

Khan had studied in Europe, in West Berlin, Holland and Belgium

The development of the Pakistani nuclear weapons program

He had worked at Physical Dynamic Research Laboratory, a company associated with the Urenco uranium enrichment consortium, before he was transferred away for asking „suspicous questions“

1976 Khan receives control over Pakistani uranium enrichment programs

1978 Pakistan enriches uranium for the first time at an enrichment facility made according to Khan's plans

The development of the Pakistani nuclear weapons program

1979 Pakistan is sanctioned after the US intelligence learns about the Pakistani enrichment facility

However, after the Soviet Union attacks Afghanistan, Pakistan becomes the most important US ally in the region and the US government turns a blind eye on the nuclear weapons program

The development of the Pakistani nuclear weapons program

1980 Pakistan begins its missile program which is supported by China

The development of the Pakistani nuclear weapons program

Mid 1980s-1990 Pakistan is able to produce enough uranium for a nuclear weapon and produces nuclear warheads

1994 Prime minister Nawaz Sharif reveals that Pakistan has a nuclear bomb

The development of the Pakistani nuclear weapons program

1998 Pakistan tests the Ghauri-I missile reaching 1,500 km

1998 Both India and Pakistan make nuclear tests which lead to US sanctions (lifted in 2001)

1999 Pakistan makes further missile tests

The Proliferation Scandal

2003 It is revealed that Abdul Qadir Khan was responsible for building a proliferation network and selling nuclear technology to countries such as North Korea, Iran and Libya

Khan is pardoned by the Pakistani government but stays until today under house arrest

Pakistani Nuclear Weapons Capability

Delivery Vehicles: 1. Modified F-16 fighters as well as Mirage III

and Mirage V aircraft

Pakistani Nuclear Weapons Capability

Delivery Vehicles: 2. Short-range Haft-II missiles and long-range

surface-to-surface Ghauri missiles

Sources

Ahmed, Samina: Pakistan´s Nuclear Weapons Program: Moving Forward or Tactical Retreat? (Kroc Institute Occasional Papers #18), 2000

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: A. Q. Khan Nuclear Chronology, Issue Brief: Non Proliferation Vol. VIII, No. 8, 2005

Kerr, Paul; Nikitin, Mary Beth (eds.): Pakistan`s Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and Security Issues (CRS Report for Congress), 2008

Mahrwald, Susanne: Die Entwicklung der Atomwaffen- und Raketenprogramme in Indien und Pakistan, 2007 (http://www.weltpolitik.net/print/3346.html, accessed on 8 May 2008)