If peace has held in South Asia for nearly two decades, despite some serious provocations, it is essentially because of the 'minimum nuclear deterrence' that Pakistan acquired on May 28, twenty years ago. On that day, Pakistan detonated seven nuclear explosions at Chaghi, Balochistan, which had become inevitable after India conducted a string of explosions earlier that month. On May 28 ever since Pakistan became the seventh member of the elite class of nuclear weapon states, the Pakistani nation therefore proudly celebrates Youm-e-Takbeer. It was India's atomic tests in 1974 which put Pakistan on the path to nuclear-weapon capability and now it was India again that compelled Pakistan to go for these tit-for-tat explosions. Licking wounds suffered at the hands of Chinese in border skirmishes in 1961 and browbeaten by China's atomic tests three years later Indian leadership decided to develop nuclear weapon capability. Indian leadership was now making up its mind to go nuclear; it refused to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), denied access to its nuclear facilities for international inspections, crystallising an "elite consensus" to carry out atomic explosions, although New Delhi continued to harbour 'ambivalent' feelings about nuclear weapons. During these years Pakistan was, one must say quite credulously, vouchsafing for embracing the NPT and turning the region into a nuclear-weapon-free zone. But the 1974 explosions shook Pakistan out of its sweet dreams, and it was then Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who called scientists for a meeting at Multan and decided to acquire a matching capability. Since India had adopted the plutonium route by stealing fissile material from the reactor gifted by Canada, and Pakistan being beneficiary of Canadian assistance and had suffered, vicariously, denial of fuel it was decided that Pakistan would go for the uranium route. Dr Abdul Qadeer was called in to set up a uranium enrichment plant, and the country was on the way to become a nuclear weapon state. But even when it had acquired the desired potential to go nuclear the explosions were never on the cards, until India carried out its explosions in 1998.
But how long? Within a day of explosions the Indian military leadership was out on the streets bragging to invade Azad Kashmir by marching into the area under the cover of nuclear weapons. How this impacted Pakistan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif recalls in his message to the nation on the 17th Youm-e-Takbeer. "There was a surge in the aggressive designs of India, as it not only expressed its intentions of sending its armed forces to Azad Kashmir, with the covering of the army on the Line of Control. But its defence minister announced that the Indian army would be armed with nuclear weapons". The Pakistan government was left with no option but to go for tit-for-tat explosions - something the United States did not want and then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had to say no to an otherwise very friendly President Bill Clinton. That May 28 of 1998 was a glorious moment for Pakistan. As the Chaghi mountain shook under the impact of underground detonations, shedding dust under the high noon sun, Pakistanis danced in the streets. Once for all, Pakistan had moved out of the lengthening shadow of Indian hegemony. That day indeed, as the prime minister said, is 'a day of pride for the Pakistani nation Muslims across the world.' The long-ridiculed "Islamic Bomb" was now a reality. But as we savour the success of the May 28 explosions we have to guard against detractors of Pakistan's nuclear capability. "Now the enemies have changed their strategy and are trying to weaken the country internally," says Nawaz Sharif. And some are hawking disinformation that Pakistan's nuclear assets are off-the-shelf wares and Saudi Arabia is the sure customer, hoping that after Iran, it is Pakistan that should be defanged of its nuclear teeth. That is not going to happen. For the people of Pakistan are convinced that if India has not dared attacking Pakistan it is because of the minimum credible deterrence it acquired on May 28, 1998.