By Sajjad
Shaukat
With national zeal and
fervour in different parts of the country, Youm-e-Takbeer (The day of
greatness) is celebrated every year on May 28 as a national day to mark the
conduction of nuclear tests when on the very day in 1998; Pakistan became the
first Muslim and the 7th nuclear power in the world.
While showing
aggressive designs, on May 11, 1998, the then Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari
Vajpayee surprised the international community by announcing that India has
conducted 3 nuclear tests earlier that day. On May 13, 1998, India conducted
two more nuclear tests.
However, both the
neighboring countries have waged three wars, especially on the issue of the
Indian occupied Kashmir, so Pakistan’s
arch rival compelled Islamabad
to follow the suit. In this regard, it took only 17 days for Pakistan to successfully carry out its five
nuclear tests which were done on May 28 and the sixth one on May 1998, at
Chaghi in Balochistan in response to five nuclear explosions detonated by India, threatening the security of Pakistan. For
the purpose, about five thousands scientists including Dr Samarmand Mubarik and
especially Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan had worked day and night and made the defence
of the country impregnable.
As regards Pakistan’s atomic experiments, renowned
journalist, Majid Nizami said, “Pakistan
faced tremendous pressure from India
after it detonated five nuclear devices and America
in this scenario also did not want Pakistan to become a nuclear power.
US President Clinton telephoned the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif five times
besides offering him billions of dollars to refrain him from nuclear tests. In
this perspective, he further stated, Nawaz was receiving opinion from different
sections of society, and in the same connection, he also convened a meeting of
the editors wherein he (Majid Nizami) also gave the input.”
New
Delhi’s war-mongering strategy
against Pakistan could be
judged from the fact that in 1974 India
conducted first nuclear test at Pokhran
Range in Rajhistan so as to pressurise
Islamabad.
It is mentionable that
when ZulfikarAli Bhutto, (The late) came to power, he paid much attention to
the nuclear programme of Pakistan,
as he knew that India would
apply its coercive diplomacy on Islamabad
or could attack our country. In this context, while talking on a TV channel on
May 28, 2012, Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan appreciated the
efforts of former Prime Minister Shaheed ZulfikarAli Bhutto for providing the
opportunity to make the nuclear programme of Pakistan successful.
He also made it clear
that Pakistan’s
nuclear programme was totally indigenous, but acquired materials from some
Western countries.
During many crises such
as Kargil issue of 1999 and attack on the Indian parliament by the militants in
2001, New Delhi concentrated its troops across
the Pakistan’s border, with
the intention to attack Pakistan,
while raising a series of false allegations against Islamabad. Pakistan was also compelled to
deploy its Army along the Pak-India border. But, India
did not dare to initiate a war because of Pakistan’s ‘Nukes.’ Similarly, in
the past, Indian rulers had intended to implement their doctrine of limited war
in Kashmir, but they could not do so owing to
our nuclear weapons.
Particularly, in the
aftermath of Mumbai terror attacks of 2008, India
accused Pakistan’s
spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of supporting the militants.
Although Pak diplomats denied Indian self-fabricated story regarding Mumbai
catastrophe, but New Delhi adopted a threatening
posture against Islamabad.
It one again deployed its troops across the Pakistani border. Again, Islamabad also concentrated its military in order to give
a matching response to India.
Notably, when US
special forces killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan on May 2, 2011 in violation
of Pak sovereignty—though Islamabad had repeatedly made it clear that its
government and intelligence agencies did not know anything about Bin Laden’s
whereabouts including any official involvement regarding the 26/11 Mumbai
catastrophe, but, New Delhi continued its aggressive style which could be
judged from the statement of Indian Army Chief Gen. VK Singh who claimed on May
4, 2011 that if situation arose, the Indian defence forces were competent to
undertake a US-like operation inside Pakistan, which killed Al Qaeda founder
Osama bin Laden. Indian army’s Northern Command chief also expressed similar
thought.
In this respect, Indian
top civil and defence officials clearly said that their country could conduct a
US-type military operation or surgical strikes inside Pakistan.
Nevertheless, in the
aftermath of Mumbai attack, India
left no stone unturned in frightening Pakistan through a prospective
invasion. Violation of Pakistan’s
air space by New Delhi had created an alarming
situation, as Islamabad had also taken defensive
steps in response to meet any aggression or surgical strikes by India.
Situation was so critical that Pakistan
started moving thousands of military troops from the Afghan border and the
tribal areas to its border with India.
But, India failed in
implementing its plans of any military action or aerial strikes on Pakistan due to the fact that the latter also
possesses nuclear arsenal which could destroy whole of India.
It is noteworthy that America dropped atomic bombs on Japanese cities
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
as Tokyo had no
such devices to retaliate. After the World War 11, nuclear weapons were never
used. These were only employed as a strategic threat. During the heightened
days of the Cold War, many crises arose in Suez Canal,
Korea, Cuba and Vietnam
when the US and the former Soviet Union were willing to use atomic weapons, but they
stopped because of the fear of nuclear war which could culminate in the
elimination of both the super powers. It was due to the concept of ‘mutually
assured destruction’ that the two rivals preferred to resolve their differences
through diplomacy.
Political strategists
agree that deterrence is a psychological concept that aims to affect an
opponent’s perceptions. In nuclear deterrence weapons are less usable as their
threat is enough in deterring an enemy that intends to use its armed might.
While both the
neighbouring adversaries are nuclear powers, Indians should not ignore the
principles of deterrence, popularly known as balance of terror.
In these terms, India is badly mistaken, if it overestimates its
own power and underestimates Pakistan’s
power. As our country lacks conventional weapons vis-à-vis India, so it
will have to use atomic devices during a prolonged conflict which would result
into national suicide of the two countries. So India
may apply its blackmailing diplomacy on the non-atomic states of South Asia in
exerting psychological pressure, but it is useless in case of Pakistan whose deterrence is credible, making
its defence invincible, as it possesses a variety of nuclear weapons and
missiles which could be used against India as the last option, if the
latter attacked our country.
Moreover, it is due to
atomic bombs that Islamabad can talk to New Delhi with honour and dignity, discouraging India from
casting an evil eye on our motherland.
Furthermore, as Pakistan
is the only declared nuclear country in the Islamic World, hence, it has become
special target of some western top officials and media persons who continue
their propaganda against Pakistan’s
nuclear programme. They have especially hired the services of media anchors and
writers who work on their payroll and have been creating doubts about the
safety and security of Pakistan’s
atomic weapons and nuclear plants. Particularly, in 2009 when the heavily-armed
Taliban entered Swat, Dir and Buner, US high officials and their media had
exaggerated the ‘Talibinisation’ of whole Pakistan, while showing concerns
about Pakistan’s atomic arms. In that regard, the then US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton had warned that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons could fall into the
hands of terrorists. But, when Pakistan’s
armed forces ejected the Taliban insurgents out of these areas by breaking
their backbone, She started appreciating the capabilities of Pakistan Armed
Forces.
Similarly, when terrorists had attacked on Pakistan’s Naval Airbase in Karachi
on May 23, 2011, US-led some western countries including India and Israel exploited the situation
through disinformation about the security of Pak nukes. And, terrorists’
assault on Kamra Base was successfully foiled by the personnel of Pakistan Air
Force, but, a baseless report, published in the New York Times had indicated
that suspected militants attacked a major Pakistani Air Force base where some
of the country’s nuclear weapons were considered to be stored in the early
hours of the militants’ attack. The ex-US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta also stated day, “There is a danger
of nuclear weapons of Pakistan,
falling into hands of terrorists.”
Undoubtedly, Pakistan’s
nuclear assets are in safe hands-well-protected and are under tight security
arrangements, having the best command and control system.
Nonetheless, May 28 is
celebrated as Youm-e-Takbeer by various political parties and social
organizations including general masses with a pledge to make Pakistan a
stronger country, militarily and economically, among the comity of nations. No
doubt, on this very day of 1998, Pakistan became nuclear power.
Sajjad Shaukat writes
on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible
Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations
Email:
sajjad_logic@yahoo.com
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