Road to Chagai: Pakistan’s Nuclear Programme

Pakistan carried out six nuclear explosions on 28 and 30 May 1998 at the Chagai test site in reaction to India’s conduct of five nuclear tests about two weeks earlier. Expectedly, the tests provoked strong international condemnation. On the eve of, and following the tests, Islamabad pointed out that its action was basically reactive to the Indian tests and necessary to ensure the survival of Pakistan. The country’s unlimited energy conservation needs and the uneasy relationship with India, Afghanistan, and the former Soviet Union explains its policy to become a nuclear power as part of its defence strategy. Since their independence from British Empire on August 1947, India and Pakistan had fought two declared wars over the disputed Kashmir territory; first war (1947) and second war (1965). As the book addresses this crucial issue quite deftly, it is hoped that it would prove to be a source of great information for the reader. It an essential reading for the students taking courses on this book.