The ability of nuclear weapons to destroy cities opened people's eyes in World War II . The world instantly started a wave of nuclear weapons manufacturing, and the number of nuclear-armed countries has reached 9 so far. At that time, the Hiroshima atomic bomb had only an explosion yield of about 1.5 tons, but the shock wave and radioactive contamination caused by the explosion killed more than 80,000 people that day, even people dozens of kilometers away. to varying degrees of impact.
Today's nuclear bombs can easily reach millions of tons or tens of millions of tons of explosive yield. It only takes one launch to turn several cities into a horrific hell on earth. No country wants to own such a weapon as a weapon of self-defense, but in the context of insufficient talent, technology and funds, , there are only a few countries that can build nuclear weapons. So how did Pakistan, which people think is poor, obtain ? Nuclear weapons?
Nuclear deterrence from India
Since the partition of India and Pakistan, the conflicts between Pakistan and India have not completely stopped, and even broke out three large-scale conflicts. Pakistan's national strength has been declining since its independence, and it has long been exhausted after fighting several wars. India is stronger than Pakistan in terms of land resources and industrial level. These wars are military exercises for it, and it will soon be able to get rid of the scars of the war.
Seeing Pakistan, where India has advantages in all aspects, I feel a huge sense of oppression. What makes Pakistan even more anxious is that India's nuclear weapons experiment is proceeding smoothly . Once the nuclear bomb is successfully developed, Pakistan's national security will face a terrible threat. In fact, India has been developing nuclear energy for a long time. Homi Baba, the founder of its nuclear energy industry, established the Atomic Energy Research Commission in 1946.
After India became independent, Homi Bhabha vigorously lobbied Nehru, then Prime Minister of India, believing that India had the technology, talent and resources and should put nuclear energy development on its agenda. Nehru had a clear understanding of the destructive capabilities of nuclear weapons and the strategic value of atomic energy, so he approved Homi Bhabha's proposal to develop atomic energy. Subsequently, India established two reactors with the help of the United Kingdom and Canada.
However, when Nehru was in power, he was the leader of the Non-Aligned Movement. He opposed the use of power and nuclear weapons in wars, and emphasized the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Therefore, his nuclear energy development was all used for private purposes, and he always maintained restraint on the manufacture of nuclear bombs. However, after the Sino-Indian war, Indian people's support for the development of nuclear weapons began to increase. After Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister of India, she carried out drastic reforms in the development of nuclear weapons.
After the outbreak of the third India-Pakistan War, India ostensibly won the victory, but it was through the signing of a ceasefire agreement with the mediation of several major powers. During this period, it encountered military threats from all parties. This made India's public opinion advocating the development of nuclear weapons increasingly strong. Strongly believe that only by becoming a nuclear power can it take more initiative in the international arena. In May 1974, India's first underground nuclear explosion test was successful. The explosion yield was not much different from the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
successfully tested nuclear weapons
Pakistan suffered a disastrous defeat in the third Indo-Pakistani War and lost East Pakistan (today's Bangladesh ). After hearing that India had made progress in nuclear testing, its determination to develop nuclear weapons became even stronger. As early as 954, Pakistan established the National Atomic Energy Research Institute. However, at that time, Pakistan had no talent, technology, or financial resources, and its nuclear energy development plan was advancing slowly.
During the development of nuclear energy, in order to cultivate technical talents in nuclear energy-related fields, sent a large number of outstanding students to European and American countries to study , hoping that they would return and invest in nuclear energy development.What disappoints Pakistan is that the overseas students who were sent there were attracted by the colorful world outside, and few returned to that impoverished country, which led to the stagnation of nuclear energy construction.
The failure of the war and the success of India's first nuclear test deeply stimulated Pakistan and firmly believed that only by building nuclear weapons could it ensure its own security. As a result, Pakistan and France started cooperation and built a nuclear raw material processing plant. The construction of the nuclear energy industry finally made progress. However, Pakistan's efforts to develop nuclear weapons have been targeted by the United States. The United States has taken numerous sanctions against it , forcing it to give up the development of nuclear weapons.
After the war in Afghanistan broke out, the United States, in order to curb the Soviet Union's military operations in Afghanistan and prevent its westward expansion, relaxed sanctions on Pakistan's development of nuclear weapons and even provided Pakistan with a large amount of military and economic assistance. Without the interference of external factors, Pakistan's pace of developing nuclear weapons has accelerated rapidly.
After the war in Afghanistan, Pakistan's nuclear weapons development program encountered a new round of U.S. sanctions. However, at this time, Pakistan had mastered the core technology that could make nuclear bombs, so it was not worried about the impact of U.S. sanctions on it. In February 1992, Pakistan's Foreign Secretary stated that "Pakistan has the capability to manufacture nuclear weapons" .
On April 6, 1998, Pakistan successfully test-fired the "Gauri" medium-range ballistic missile with a range of 1,500 kilometers. On May 11 and 13, 1998, India conducted a total of underground nuclear tests and became a nuclear-armed country. Not to be outdone, Pakistan conducted nuclear tests on May 28th and 30th to show India its determination to defend national security.
Pakistan's nuclear hero
After Pakistan has nuclear weapons, it has more confidence to resist India's nuclear deterrence, and this is inseparable from the contribution of Pakistan's "father of nuclear bombs"Qadir Khan. After India's first nuclear test explosion, Qadir Khan, who felt deeply that Pakistan was in danger, returned to China with two sets of design technologies used to build enriched uranium centrifuges.
Qadeer Khan, who returned to Pakistan, repeatedly expressed his willingness to contribute to the construction of nuclear energy to then President Bhutto , and also suggested that Bhutto use enriched uranium to make nuclear bombs. Although Pakistan at that time built a reactor using enriched plutonium as raw material with the help of Canada, Qadir Khan believed that enriched uranium was better and easier to promote the construction of atomic energy, so Bhutto accepted Qadir Khan's proposal. It was recommended that a uranium enrichment processing plant be established.
Qadeer Khan even actively recruited Pakistani technology and technical personnel abroad to return to his country, giving them generous salaries and promising to free housing for them . Thanks to the efforts of Qadir Khan and many other scientists, Pakistan's nuclear weapons development plan was carried out smoothly. Even though it was subject to repeated sanctions from the United States, it finally cleared the clouds and saw the sun, becoming a nuclear power, allowing Pakistan to stand up internationally. Straightened up.
