In 1998, after India declared itself a nuclear state, the country quickly deployed nuclear weapons to the border areas with Pakistan. However, it is surprising that Pakistan also announced the successful development of a nuclear bomb just three days later.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the British Indian colonies of the South Asian subcontinent split into two nation-states, India and Pakistan.
Their birth was not so smooth, and behind them there were religious conflicts and struggles for land and power.
In particular, the conflict between Hindus and Muslims became more and more intense, and finally in 1947, when British India was dissolved, the two countries became independent.
Since independence, there has been a conflict between India and Pakistan, and the question of the ownership of Kashmir has made the two countries full of gunpowder. Because of this problem, the first war broke out between the two countries, which led to tensions.
In the decades that followed, there were frequent wars and conflicts between the two countries over sovereignty issues. Because Pakistan's comprehensive national strength is weaker than India's, it often has the upper hand in confrontation with India.
In the face of changes in the international situation, especially the shock caused by the use of atomic bombs by the United States against Japan at the end of World War II, India quickly launched a nuclear weapons research and development program.
Despite the challenges of its scientific base and industrial capabilities, India pursued it relentlessly, and finally successfully conducted a nuclear test codenamed "Smiling Buddha" in 1974.
Pakistan launched its nuclear weapons research and development program seven years later than India, but the process was extremely difficult. Funding shortages and brain drain have made Pakistan's nuclear research struggling. It was not until 1972 that the Third Indo-Pakistani War led to the partition of Pakistan and the birth of Bangladesh, which made Pakistan deeply aware of the importance of nuclear forces and accelerated the pace of nuclear weapons development.
In 1976, Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadir Khan returned to China with centrifuge technology, which greatly promoted the independent development of enriched uranium, a raw material for nuclear weapons. Since then, Pakistan has accelerated its progress in the development of nuclear weapons.
At the end of the 90s of the last century, India conducted five nuclear tests within 48 hours in May 1998 and successfully possessed nuclear weapons.
Not to be outdone, Pakistan also conducted six nuclear tests to show that India could also build nuclear weapons. This move came as a surprise to India and attracted widespread attention in the international community.
But India and Pakistan are conducting nuclear tests, which is a violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which was signed in 1968.
But strangely, the UN and other nuclear-armed states, especially the United States, have not said anything. In fact, everyone is for their own national interests, and they have their own little ninety-nine in their hearts.
Although India and Pakistan have maintained mutual checks and balances and calm for more than two decades because of nuclear weapons, the threat posed by nuclear weapons has always hung over the head of mankind with the sword of Damocles.
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), adopted by the 50th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1996, aims to urge all member states not to conduct nuclear tests again in order to preserve the living environment of mankind and promote world peace and development.
