Pakistan and Nuclear Weapon Proliferation

The study is a historical analysis of the Pakistani nuclear program which aims at bringing out the compulsions, restraints and constraints which forced Pakistan to undertake a nuclear program. The perceptions and responses, past, present and future, of the superpowers and some of the affected regional states are also discussed in the backdrop of the Pakistani nuclear activities. The development of the Pakistani nuclear program falls under two time frames, i.e., the pre 1971 period and the post 1971 period because of the differences in the scope and direction of the two. The paper follows a chronological pattern but it analyzes various factors using a combination of the deductive, the compare-and-contrast, and the cause-and-effect pattern. Each factor contribution to the Pakistani nuclear program is examined in detail. The pre 1971 period highlights three major factors; international developments in the nuclear field, desperate energy requirement and lack of natural energy resources. The post 1971 synthesizes four factors, i.e., the oil crisis of 1973, quest for security and survival, the credibility of the alliances and the Indian nuclear explosion of 1974. The study concludes that the analysis will provide a new framework for the future investigations of other such like complex situations.