Pakistan Nuclear Programme is perhaps the only programme that has been carried forward by all the leaders. Though on the international front, it has received mixed reviews but for any Pakistani it is an emblem of his unity, national security and soverenity.
Here is a chronology of Pakistan Nuclear Weapons:
1955: Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission set up to promote peaceful uses of atomic energy.
1965: Pakistani nuclear research reactor at Parr, Rawalpindi, starts functioning.
1974: India tests a device of up to 15 kilotons and calls the test a peaceful nuclear explosion. Pakistani Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto calls a meeting of Pakistan's top scientists of intention to develop nuclear arms.
1974: Pakistan proposed to India the establishment of a nuclear weapons free zone in south Asia
1978 -- Pakistan proposed to India a joint Indo-Pakistan declaration renouncing the acquisition and manufacture of nuclear weapons
1979 -- The United States cut off aid to Pakistan under section 669 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 FAA) after it was learned that Pakistan had secretly begun construction of a uranium enrichment facility.
1979: Pakistan proposed to India mutual inspections by India and Pakistan of nuclear facilities
1980--Multiple reports that Pakistan obtained bomb-grade enriched uranium from China.
1981--Publication of book, Islamic Bomb, citing recent Pakistani efforts to construct a nuclear test site.
1982/3--Several European press reports indicate that Pakistan was using Middle Eastern intermediaries to acquire bomb parts.
1983--Declassified US government assessment concludes that `There is unambiguous evidence that Pakistan is actively pursuing a nuclear weapons development program. 1984--President Zia states that Pakistan has acquired a `very modest' uranium enrichment capability for `nothing but peaceful purposes.'
1985--ABC News reports that US believes Pakistan has `successfully tested' a `firing mechanism' of an atomic bomb by means of a non-nuclear explosion, and that US krytrons `have been acquired' by Pakistan.
1985/6--Media cites production of highly enriched, bomb-grade uranium in violation of a commitment to the US.
1986--Commenting on Pakistan’s nuclear capability, General Zia told interviewer, ‘It is our right to obtain the technology. And when we acquire this technology, the Islamic world will possess it with us.’
1987: Pakistan proposed to India an agreement on a bilateral or regional nuclear test ban treaty
1987--London Financial Times reports US spy satellites have observed construction of second uranium enrichment plant in Pakistan.
1987--West German official confirms that nuclear equipment recently seized on way to Pakistan was suitable for at least 93% enrichment of uranium; blueprints of uranium enrichment plant also seized in Switzerland.
1987: China concluded a deal with Pakistan to sell M-11 missiles and launchers.
1988--President Zia tells Carnegie Endowment delegation in interview that Pakistan has attained a nuclear capability.
1989--Test launch of Hatf-2 missile: Payload (500 kilograms) and range (300 km) meets `nuclear-capable' standard under Missile Technology Control Regime.
1990--US News cites `western intelligence sources’ claimed that Pakistan recently `cold-tested' a nuclear device and is now building a plutonium production reactor; article says Pakistan is engaged in nuclear cooperation with Iran.
1990--Pakistani biography of top nuclear scientist (Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan and the Islamic Bomb), claims US showed `model' of Pakistani bomb to visiting Pakistani diplomat as part of unsuccessful non-proliferation effort.
1990--Dr. A.Q. Khan, father of Pakistan's bomb, receives `Man of the Nation Award.
1991: Pakistan proposed to India commencement of a multilateral conference on the nuclear proliferation in south Asia
July 1991 - Reliable reports from Islamabad confirm that Pakistan had frozen production of HEU and halted the manufacturing of nuclear weapons components.
Late 1992: The US Government determines that China had transferred items controlled under the international Missile Technology Control Regime to Pakistan.
August 25, 1993: The United States imposed “Category Two” sanctions against certain Chinese and Pakistani entities that were involved in an M-11 missile-related transfer, which is prohibited under US law.
April 1994 - Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott visits Islamabad to propose a one-time sale of F-16 fighter aircraft to Pakistan.
January 06, 1996: India and Pakistan exchange lists of atomic installations which each side has pledged not to attack under an over seven-year-old confidence-building agreement.
March 1996: Pakistan commissioned an unsafeguarded nuclear reactor, expected to become fully operational in the late 1990s, that will provide it with a capability to produce weapons-grade plutonium.
Late 1996: Pakistan's main nuclear weapons laboratory, the A.Q. Khan Laboratory in Kahuta, purchased 5,000 ring magnets from China.
October 03, 1996: Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto called for the convening of a South Asia security conference that would deal with, among other things, Kashmir and the nuclear arms issue.
July 03, 1997: Pakistan confirms test-firing of new indigenous Hatf missile.
September 06, 1997: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif claims Pakistan possesses nuclear weapons.
June 1998--The foreign ministers of the United States and seven other industrialized countries announce that they would act together to postpones loans to Pakistan by international financial institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
January 1999:The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund renew lending to Pakistan after the U.S. drops its opposition to multilateral aid.
May 1999: Saudi Defence Mnister Prince Sultan visits Pakistan's secret nuclear facilities at Kahuta and a missile factory.
2000-2010
May 2000: U.S. officials claim that Pakistan has made limited preparations for a potential future nuclear test; Pakistan denies the allegations.
2001: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf removes A.Q. Khan as head of Pakistan's nuclear programs and names him as scientific adviser to the president.
2002: India and Pakistan close to war after attack on parliament in New Delhi blamed on Pakistani-based militants.
December, 2003: Pakistan questioned nuclear scientists, including A.Q. Khan, over allegations of proliferation.
January, 2004: Probe leads to removal of A.Q. Khan as adviser to prime minister.
February 4, 2004: Khan appears on state television to make personal apology to the nation for endangering national security by leaking nuclear secrets abroad.
11 August 2005: Pakistan successfully test-fired its first cruise missile on the 62nd birthday of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
15 November 2006: India and Pakistan agreed on measures to combat terrorism and prevent an accidental nuclear conflict in South Asia at the first peace talks since a terrorist attack on Mumbai's train network in July.
31 January 2007: Pakistan plans to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a 45-nation body that sets guidelines for trading nuclear materials and technology.
24 August 2007: Pakistan plans to build a new uranium enrichment complex that would be dedicated to producing fuel for domestic nuclear power program.
November 13, 2007: The Pakistan government refuted reports in the international media that questioned the security of its nuclear weapons.
November 20, 2007: The Pakistan government has confirmed reports of cooperation with the United States on securing Islamabad's nuclear weapons.
December 14, 2007: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has issued an ordinance that provides a legal basis for the National Command Authority (NCA).
January 1, 2008: The Pakistani and Indian governments exchanged lists of nuclear facilities under Article-II of the “Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks against Nuclear Installations and Facilities” between the two countries of 31 December 1988.
February 7, 2009: A Pakistani court freed disgraced physicist A.Q. Khan from house arrest, which had been imposed on him in 2004 after he confessed to masterminding an illicit nuclear proliferation network.
April 7, 2009: Dr. Ansar Pervez took over as the new head of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), following the end of the three-year tenure of Dr. Anwar Ali. Pervez.
June 14, 2009: The Pakistan government has increased the budgetary allocation for the atomic energy sector's research and development by 10 percent from Rs (Pakistani). 3.28 billion to Rs. (Pakistani) 3.61 for the financial year 2009-10.
22 January 2010: The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved the Nuclear Fuel Enrichment Plan (NFEP) project to be constructed in Mianwali.n