(MENAFN- Daily Outlook Afghanistan) In the post-Pokharan phase from 1975 onwards Bhutto pursued his quest for Pakistan's nuclear status. He held that only nations with nuclear weapons had sovereignty. It is now known that from the early 1980s, China has been assisting Pakistan in nuclear technology which was later extended to missile technology as well. All this was within the knowledge of the US and Pakistan's nuclear capability is now traced to as early as 1987. Relations between India and Pakistan are exacerbated by deep mistrust, a quick tendency to blame the other side for any misfortune, belief that the other side is dedicated to gaining the upper hand and, in Pakistan, the idea that India directly threatens the survival of the country. There is an almost paranoid tendency to see evil intent in each other's action, and conspiracy theories are endemic and readily articulated by a vast cross-section of the two populations. Although Pakistan in t e r m s o f population, land area , infrastructure and Armed forces is way behind India which makes one come to the conclusion that it can afford to carry out a proxy war because of the backing of China to develop its nuclear and missile capability, the availability of Arab petro dollars and to some extent by the support of the strong pro- Pakistan lobby in the USA. It is said that China helped Pakistan substantively in setting up the nuclear reactors. We now learn that China had decided to carry out more nuclear tests to meet the nuclear challenge by India in South Asia.
Immense nuclear help by China
Following the explosion Pakistan acquired its nuclear teeth during Bhutto's visit to Peking in May 1976, when a secret pact was made between the two countries and China agreed to help Islamabad produce nuclear arms. A part of Bhutto's diary revealed:.Fifteen per cent to twenty per cent of the work had been shelved for further talks with French and Chinese leaders; the major portion of the project had been completed, and we had thoroughly prepared ourselves to show the world that we also knew how to explode a nuclear bomb….My countrymen wanted me and my government to produce a nuclear bomb. They talked, more often than not, about India's possession of nuclear devices and nuclear arms. Indian leaders should not shout; they should know that Pakistan would, sooner than later; explode a nuclear device. China according to Bhutto, had agreed to share technology with Pakistan for setting up a big factory on the outskirts of Karachi to manufacture powerful tanks and anti-tank missiles. Peking had also agree d to build two industrial units in Pakistan's northern territory, he added. The year 1976 also witnessed the signing of a Pak agreement with French firm SGN for Chasma plant after three years of negotiations. The Chasma project, however, ran into rough weather. The Indian test and other developments had meanwhile set in motion new thinking on matters of proliferation. The London meeting of the nuclear supplier countries took a new look at the export of nuclear technology and materials.
Role of France and the US
The United States brought pressure on both France and Pakistan to abandon the Chasma project. France refused to do so and Pakistan could not be influenced by the offer of conventional arms. It was only after the US presented the evidence to France of Pakistani intention of using the plant for weapon purpose that the latter heeded the US pressure. By mid 1977 France had slowed down on the contract and in 1978 abandoned it completely. This incident left Pakistan to pursue the matter of nuclear power more or less alone. Bhutto viewed Pakistan's nuclear capability as the symbol of a particular civilization as he once said that Christian, Jewish and Hindu civilization have this capability. The communist powers also possess it. Only Islamic civilization was without it, but that position was about to change. He intended to share with the Arab countries Pakistan's nuclear capability. Saudi Arabia was also reported to have indicated to Pakistan that it would be willing to finance a reprocessing plant for the manufacture of Plutonium in return for the use of this facility for itself.
Despite the fact that Americans did not like the development of Pak's nuclear capability, Bhutto claimed that the reprocessing facility was required to keep Pakistan's atomic power stations going. He was told by Dr. Henry Kissinger that he was insulting US intelligence. But a page Bhutto's diary indicated that Islamabad had other alternatives too. It revealed: You know I have friends not only helpful in China but also in Saudi Arabia. As Prime Minister I built strong bridges with Saudi Arabia. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia reached an agreement on a plan to assist each other in building the defence strength. The agreement was designed to enable the two countries to come closer to each other in the light of growing need to establish a united Muslim bloc. The agreement was intended to enable Pakistan to obtain financial assistance from Saudi Arabia for purchasing effective equipment for our armed forces.
No effect of change of guard
The army coup of July 1977, removed Bhutto from the seat of power and after having been overthrown he had disclosed that he had brought Pakistan to the verge of full nuclear capability. The disclosure led to an inquiry by the British Department of Energy and Trade in 1978 pertaining to Pakistani deal with a British firm for the supply of $ 1.25 million worth of electrical control equipment which goes into a nuclear bomb. According to a section of the British press, the Pakistan government had placed an order with a British electrical machinery manufacturing company for equipment which it said; it needed for a textile plant but which could be used for a nuclear project. The inquiry was made in the light of a question asked in the British House of Commons by a Labour Member, Frank, Allaun, whether the supply of equipment essential to the manufacture of nuclear weapons had the government's approval. But what was good for Islamabad was that its relations with China had been improving for several years, and its President ‘is a faithful follower' of Bhutto's policy. China had secured an access to the Arabian sea and the Indian Ocean by the grace of Pakistan; if Pakistan accelerated a process of collection of arms which can have only one target, namely, India, then India would be forced to equip itself to meet this challenge.
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