In the wake of the recent news regarding Pakistan’s increasing nuclear power, a declassified CIA report reveals the fact that Prime Minister Indira Gandhi may have considered eliminating Pakistan’s nuclear sites when she returned to office in 1981, long before the sites neared fruition.
According to the report, at that time the United States was thinking about providing F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. If this had became reality, Pakistan would have the possible means to deliver nuclear weapons. Considering this threat, Indira Gandhi considered the option of destroying the nuclear bases of Pakistan.
Until the mid to late 80s, Pakistan’s nuclear program resulted in weaponisation with assistance of China and the US. Without considering Pakistan’s toxic nature of military and religious extremism, the US and China assisted it. Moreover, the US made the situation more severe by providing help of billions of dollars as a military aid to Pakistan. This military aid included F-16 fighter jets that made Pakistan more powerful.
Current Situation
Pakistan’s nuclear program has now acquired more than 120 nuclear weapons. Such a large number of nuclear weapons in an unstable toxic country wracked by ethnic and sectarian hatred has now become a deadly threat to entire world.
According to a recent report by scholars at American thinktanks, Pakistan could soon be the world’s third-largest nuclear power with at least 350 nuclear weapons within five to 10 years.
