Background 📜

2) Background 📜

Since independence in 1947, Pakistan has repeatedly tried to persuade India to resolve the disputes created after the partition of the subcontinent. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, Pakistan’s leadership had already noticed the direction of India’s nuclear program.

Pakistan was pushed further toward nuclear development after India’s 1974 “peaceful nuclear explosion.” In response, Pakistan began its own nuclear weapons program. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the President of Pakistan at that time, famously declared:

“We are fighting a thousand years war with India, and we will make an atomic bomb even if we have to eat grass.”

While India’s nuclear program may have been driven by concerns about China or great-power ambitions, Pakistan’s nuclear program was purely security-driven and focused on India. India openly tested nuclear weapons in May 1998, and Pakistan followed soon afterwards, especially after threatening statements from Indian leadership. This clearly reflects the security rivalry and nuclear competition between the two states.

Pakistan’s alliances also failed to provide the security it expected. A key example is the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965, during which the United States did not give Pakistan the military support it relied on. This created a strong belief in Pakistan that the US was not a dependable ally. The failure of external security guarantees became an important reason for Pakistan to pursue nuclear deterrence.

Another major factor was the growing conventional military imbalance with India. Pakistan has always tried to maintain a balance that prevents India from gaining a decisive military advantage. Pakistan therefore views its nuclear weapons as a counterweight to India’s conventional superiority.