Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak

1 0 Frontline Pakistan
the first time that the head of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme
revealed the country’s nuclear status. Apparently the interview was
meant to warn India that Pakistan could use a nuclear weapon in the
event of a war. The statement was later confirmed by General Zia himself
in another interview. The development raised serious international
concerns. The US Congress passed the Pressler Amendment in 1985,
requiring sanctions against Pakistan, unless the President certified
that Islamabad was not developing nuclear weapons. The Reagan
administration warned Islamabad of dire consequences if it crossed
the threshold of ‘five per cent’ enrichment. 15 But, because of Pakistan’s
crucial role in the covert operation in Afghanistan, the USA continued
to ignore Pakistan’s progress towards nuclear capability.
Most nuclear experts agree that 1985 was the watershed in Pakistan’s
nuclear weapons programme. That was the year when Pakistan
developed nuclear-grade enrichment. The US intelligence agencies
concluded in 1986 that Pakistan had acquired nominal capability
sufficient to produce enough weapons-grade uranium material to
build six to seven nuclear bombs each year. 16 . Yet President Reagan
continued to certify that Islamabad did not possess nuclear weapons,
thus allowing the flow of aid to Pakistan, which had become the
linchpin in the West’s war against the Soviet communist bloc.
The death of General Zia in August 1988, in a mysterious air crash,
and the restoration of democracy did not bring about any significant
change in Pakistan’s nuclear policy. Under the new civilian government,
the country’s nuclear programme continued to be run by the military
and the President. Benazir Bhutto, who was elected Prime Minister in
December 1988, was kept out of the loop. She was not even allowed
to visit the Kahuta facility during her first term as chief executive from
December 1988 to August 1990. During her state visit to Washington
in 1989, Benazir Bhutto assured the US Congress that Pakistan neither
possessed a nuclear bomb nor did it intend to build one. But she
was shocked when the US intelligence officials told her about the
actual status of Pakistan’s nuclear programme. After the ousting of
her government, Benazir Bhutto maintained in an interview with ABC
television that she was kept in the dark about the programme. 17 That
the elected Prime Minister had no control or even knowledge of the
nuclear weapons programme was a sad commentary on the state of
the civil and military relationship and Pakistani democracy. 18
Following the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1990,
Pakistan’s usefulness for the USA as a frontline state also came to an