On 28 May 2026, Pakistan commemorates 28th anniversary of achieving the nuclear power status to join the elite global nuclear club of N-5 2 (India & Pakistan). It was on this very day that the journey of hardships, resilience, steadfastness and sacrifices spanning over almost four decades, culminated in achieving the unachievable. The day marked the installing of unshakable deterrence against the belligerence and establishing the much-desired strategic stability in the South Asian region. Deterrence against the hegemonic eastern neighbor that was multiple times bigger in conventional forces domain and whose irrational and expansionist leadership was bent upon undermining the strategic stability of the region. Pakistan’s nuclear power status made its defence invincible by imposing extremely prohibitive cost of misadventure to its enemies.

Earlier, on 11th May 1998, India exploded three nuclear devices followed by another two on 13th May 1998 under codename ‘Operation Shakti’ at its underground firing range at Pokhran in its western province Rajasthan. Remember! India had already exploded a nuclear device at Pokhran on 18 May 1974, under codename ‘Smiling Buddha’ by misusing the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), India’s premier nuclear research facility, that was established with the help of Canada at Mumbai, Maharashtra for the peaceful research purposes.

Nevertheless, soon after exploding the nuclear devices in May 1998, Indian political leadership started sabre rattling and........

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