THE May 28, 2025 marks 27 anniversary of Youm-e-Takbir (The Day of Greatness), serves as a heraldry of the country’s becoming the first Muslim state and the seventh declared nuclear power in the world.
This historical and triumphant achievement –marked Pakistan‘s emergence as a self-reliant and sovereign nuclear power in South Asia–glavanised by Pakistan’s 5 successful nuclear tests of May 28, 1998 that it conducted in response to India’s 3 nuclear explosions of May 11 (Pokhran-II).
The post May, 1998 Pakistan represents a stronger nuclear policy on multiple fronts.
Today, Pakistani nation pays homage to the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and all our national heroes whose epic and sustained struggle have rendered our defense frontiers insurmountable.
Strategic balance: Significantly, Youm-e-Takbir’s commemoration is the reaffirmation of Pak acquired nuclear capabilities asserting its independence from external influence and establishing a deterrent against potential India’s threats posed to its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
In 1998, both India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests.
These tests, particularly Pakistan’s response to India’s, are often viewed as having re-established a strategic balance in South Asia.
Earlier, India’s actions were seen as destabilizing the regional security framework.
Pakistan’s nuclear tests subsequently introduced a mutual deterrence dynamic, which created a balance of power through the threat of mutually assured destruction.
This new reality fundamentally altered the security landscape in South Asia, preventing large-scale conventional warfare between the two nuclear-armed nations, and impacting regional and global geopolitics.
National security & defense policy: The nuclear program is seen as a crucial element in ensuring Pakistan’s national security and protecting its sovereignty.
Pakistan’s national security status was significantly altered after becoming a declared nuclear state in 1998.
Pakistan sought to ensure its national security by deterring any attack, while also preventing coercion.
Moreover, the programme is aimed to elevate Pakistan’s international standing and prestige, signaling its capabilities in the global arena.
Doctrinal parameters: Pakistan’s nuclear doctrine emphasizes immediate massive retaliation, which underpins the overall defense strategy.
Pakistan adopted a policy of “minimum credible deterrence” meaning a capacity to retaliate with nuclear weapons in response to a conventional or nuclear attack from India.
This marked a transition in Pakistan’s strategic posture, emphasizing deterrence as a cornerstone of national security in the nuclear age.
Further, in response to India’s growing conventional military capabilities and threats posed by its cold start doctrine (CSD).
The pioneer of Pakistan strategic policy Lt .Gen Khalid Kidwai in 2011, conceptualized a quid pro quo plus to our nuclear doctrine via full-spectrum deterrence.
Pak tactical nuclear weapons (TNWs-Nasr) gave new strength to our defense system.
Kashmir issue: Pakistan has intertwined the Kashmir issue as a key element of its strategic defense and deterrence strategy since Pak stance is clear, Kashmir is not India’s internal matter.
Furthermore, Pakistan’s stance on nuclear weapons, unlike India’s ‘No First Use’ policy, suggests a proactive approach to deterring threats, especially those linked to the unresolved Kashmir issue while maintaining its uncompromised water rights protected under the Indus Water Treaty of 1960.
Safety and security of nuclear sites: Pakistan has significantly cooperated with the IAEA on nuclear safety and security.
As responsible nuclear state, Pakistan has established stringent command and control procedures to ensure the safety and security of its nuclear assets, recognizing both advertent or inadvertent risks associated to the high risk environment in South Asia thereby highlighting the role of National Command Authority (NCA).
On several occasions, IAEA has expressed satisfaction with the country’s commitment to promoting best practices in nuclear safety, security and safeguards.
Components of Pakistan’s nuclear programme: Other than having a hard power capability of developing weapons, Pakistan nuclear programme has a significant peaceful component thereby enhancing its economic while fulfilling its energy needs.
Peaceful use of nuclear energy is the basis of extending our economic growth via fulfilling the national energy needs of leveraging the uses of nuclear energy in medicine, agriculture and industries.
Pakistan aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and is exploring nuclear power as a key component of its energy transition.
The country’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) includes a conditional target of reducing overall emissions by 50% by 2030, with 15% from its own resources and 35% dependent on international financial grant.
Missile capabilities: Pakistan’s missile technology has demonstrated strategic prowess in South Asia through the development and deployment of various ballistic and cruise missiles.
These systems provide Pakistan with a credible deterrence capability enabling it to counter potential threats from India.
Some notable names are Fatah, Shaheen, Ghaznavi series including, Nasr, Ghori, Abdali and Ababeel which showcase advancement in range, accuracy and payload capacity.
Pakistan’s missile programme is designed to ensure national security and maintain strategic stability in the region.
Pak military supremacy in the current stand –off with India: The recent conflict between India and Pakistan from May7-10, 2025, showcased Pakistan’s military prowess in South Asia.
Despite being outgunned, Pak military demonstrated its capability to respond effectively to India’s unprovoked strikes.
utilising Pak Air Force capability, drones, missiles and cyber operations.
Pak military also demonstrated tighter command and control, leveraging emerging technologies, particularly, AI-surveillance.
Role of nuclear deterrent in current ceasefire: notably, the current military standoff between two nuclear armed nations of South Asia (May 7-10) remains to mark the shortest limited war in the history of world.
Pakistan’s launched operation Bunyan-un- Marsoos accompanied by an epic Marka-e-Haq, a demonstration of integrated tri-services, restored conventional balance and deterrence in the region.
While India’s fear of nuclear escalation shaped the conflict’s trajectory, compelling India to lodge a ceasefire request to the US.
Thus, deterrence factor has intrinsically influenced both the conduct of the limited war and the eventual ceasefire agreement.
In summary, with Youm-e-Takbir, striking a strategic equilibrium in the South Asian region , Pakistan has not only transformed the status of its defense capabilities, but it has also garnered Pakistan’s commitment to maintaining regional stability, building its nuclear arsenal, and demonstrating responsible management of its nuclear capabilities.
—The writer, based in Pakistan, an independent IR & International Law analyst, also an expert in Conflict and Peace Studies (with special focus on Palestine, Kashmir), is member of European Consortium of Political Research (ECPR), including the Washington Foreign Law Society/American Society of International Law. ([email protected])
