The story of those 18 days when the world powers stopped Pakistan

Carrying out nuclear tests would mean that sanctions would be imposed on Pakistan and that international aid would be cut, which could pose threats to Pakistan’s economy.

These 18 days started with the return of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from his foreign visit. On May 11, the day after the Indian experiments, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned home and called a high-level meeting as soon as he arrived.

The meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub, Finance Minister Sartaj Aziz, Interior Minister Shujaat Hussain, chiefs of the three armed forces and nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan.

Apart from the state strategy, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was also facing internal political pressure to respond to India’s experiences with Pakistan’s experiences.

In an interview given on May 16, he himself said that ‘the pressure is increasing on me with every passing hour.’

Protests by Jamaat-e-Islami and Muttahida Qaumi Movement were also going on in the streets. Qazi Hussain Ahmed, then head of Jamaat-e-Islami, warned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that if Pakistan does not respond to India, then Nawaz Sharif may have to pay a heavy price.

When India conducted the experiments, the then chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party and the leader of the opposition Benazir Bhutto was also not present in the country. When she returned to the country in the middle of the day, she was facing cases in the accountability court and in those 18 days she continued to suffer appearances.

Despite severe differences with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, when Foreign Minister Gauhar Ayub sought her support on the issue of India, Benazir Bhutto declared her government’s unconditional support.

While internal pressure was mounting on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the government’s strategy was focused on the international community’s response to India’s experiences. America had imposed sanctions on India after India’s experiments and it was important for Pakistan to assess the global reaction after the possible experiments.

In these 18 days, when sanctions were imposed on India, America’s dialogue with Pakistan was positive. While Pakistan was being asked for sanctions as a result of the nuclear blasts, Pakistan was being offered various types of security guarantees and other concessions.

US President Bill Clinton contacted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif immediately after the Indian experiments. In these 18 days, President Clinton telephoned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif a total of five times. Apart from this, a representative of the Japanese Prime Minister also brought his letter to Nawaz Sharif. All had one request that Pakistan should not respond to India’s experiences.

On May 15, President Clinton sent his special envoy, Strobe Talbot, to Pakistan with the aim of preventing Pakistan from conducting experiments.

As the days passed by, it was becoming clear that Pakistan could conduct nuclear tests at any moment. On May 17, at the G8 Summit in London, where US President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were present, the news was put in front of them that Pakistan might have made nuclear explosions. At that time, this news proved to be false.

Three days before May 28, a major incident took place on May 25 when a Pakistan International Airlines plane was hijacked. At that time, the news was hot in the newspapers that Pakistan had chosen Chagai area of ​​Balochistan for nuclear tests.

The hijackers demanded that Balochistan should not be chosen for nuclear tests. However, the plane was rescued from the hijackers by conducting an operation with the help of the Pakistan Army.

When the day of May 28 came, the day began with the briefing of the armed forces to Nawaz Sharif on the security situation. After the explosion in Chagai, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said these historic phrases in his address to the nation: ‘The nuclear experiments that India had done in the past days, today we have paid for them too.’