ISLAMABAD – A confidential State Department report, dated Aug 20, 1984,shows that by 1984 Washington knew Islamabad had acquired the capability tobuild nuclear weapons.
“Despite public and private assurances by President Zia (ul Haq) thatPakistan has neither the intention, means, nor capability to acquirenuclear explosives, we have extensive and convincing intelligence that thePakistanis are pressing forward to perfect the design of a nuclear weapon,fabricate nuclear weapon components, and acquire the necessary nuclearmaterial for such a device,” the report says.
“Recent progress in Pakistan’s uranium enrichment programme may … sooncreate a situation in which we could not rule out the possibility thatPakistan was taking all of the steps required to assemble a nuclear device,or even to stockpile nuclear weapons.”
The document notes that the development forced Washington to make “a starkchoice” between: (1) Acquiescing in Pakistan’s nuclear activities and thusincurring almost certain Congressional action against US securityassistance to Pakistan, the possibility of an Indian pre-emptive strikeagainst the Pakistani nuclear facilities, and seriously undermining thecredibility of US global non-proliferation policy.
Read Top Stories
(2) Terminating the US-Pakistan security relationship, thereby imperillingthe Afghan resistance to Soviet occupation, doing grave and long-term harmto US political and security interests in Southwest Asia and with China,and convincing Pakistan it had nothing further to lose by building nuclearweapons or even conducting a nuclear test.
