Pakistan became an overt nuclear weapons power on 28 May 1998, when it carried out its first public nuclear tests at the Chagai Hills in Balochistan.

Quick Scoop

Exact date and event

  • Pakistan conducted a series of underground nuclear tests on 28 May 1998 , often referred to domestically as Youm-e-Takbeer (Day of Greatness).
  • These tests were a direct response to India’s nuclear tests earlier the same month, and from that day Pakistan has been considered a declared nuclear weapons state.

Before 1998: De facto capability

  • Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program began in the early 1970s under Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, especially after the 1971 war with India.
  • By the late 1980s and early 1990s, many analysts believed Pakistan had already produced weapons-grade material and assembled devices, but it remained undeclared until the 1998 tests.

Nuclear power vs nuclear weapons

  • Pakistan has used nuclear technology both for civilian energy and for weapons; its first commercial nuclear power plant (KANUPP in Karachi) was commissioned in 1972.
  • However, in common political and security discussions, “when did Pakistan become nuclear power” usually refers to its overt nuclear weapons status , which dates to the May 1998 tests.

TL;DR: Pakistan’s nuclear weapons status became official on 28 May 1998, when it publicly tested nuclear devices at Chagai, though the weapons program and capabilities had been developed over the preceding decades.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.