Twenty-eight years ago this week, Pakistan answered history with the thunder of ‘takbeer’. India had tested its first nuclear weapon in 1974, following the debacle of East Pakistan and forced Pakistan’s hand to establish deterrence once it resumed nuclear weapons testing in 1998 and became more belligerent.
On May 28, 1998, we restored strategic balance in South Asia not out of necessity but out of ambition. India had left us no choice. As we commemorate Youm-e-Takbeer, we celebrate not only that sovereign assertion but its living proof in May 2025. Marka-e-Haq and Operation Bunyanum Marsoos denied any illusion of normalising limited war under the nuclear threshold. Pakistan’s Quid Pro Quo Plus (QPQ+) response in action showed restraint by design. It was capability joined with timing, proportion, calibrated judgement and iron-clad political control. Pakistan did not have to resort to any nuclear signalling because conventional forces, backed by the quiet assurance of Full Spectrum Deterrence, sufficed.
In a nuclearised dyad, there is simply no safe space for war or doctrinal adventurism. This is deterrence as it should function – defensive, stabilising and disciplined. Pakistan has never sought dominance or blackmail, and its deterrence capability has forced India to scale back aggressive war-fighting concepts, from large-scale manoeuvre doctrines to more limited and riskier options. Pakistan’s posture harbours no extra-regional ambitions. We are the net security stabilisers in the region.
Nowhere amongst the nine nuclear-weapon states is deterrence meant to be an end in itself. It is the secure backdrop that frees national resources and attention for the real battle: sustainable development, powered, inter alia, by peaceful nuclear technology. In Pakistan, the same atomic enterprise that safeguards our sovereignty now lights our homes, feeds our fields, heals our people and drives innovation. This is the true peace dividend of Youm-e-Takbeer. Pakistan’s journey with the atom began long before 1998. We established the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission in 1956 and became a founding member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1957. That early foundation in so-called Atoms for Peace proved decisive. Today, six operational nuclear power plants provide clean baseload electricity. Our Energy Vision targets 8,800MW by 2030 and over 42,000MW by 2050, reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels and supporting climate goals. However, achieving those goals requires sustainable support and the prioritisation of nuclear energy as the cleanest and most sustainable energy source. These plants have already avoided tens of millions of tons of CO2 emissions.
In agriculture, the PAEC’s biotechnology and genetic engineering centres have developed more than 160+ improved crop varieties using nuclear techniques. The legendary NIAB-78 cotton mutant alone generated billions in export revenue while boosting productivity. These centres continue to deliver disease-resistant crops, pest control, drought management, food irradiation, and soil restoration, directly advancing food security and zero hunger.
In healthcare, the PAEC runs 21 nuclear medicine centres that treat nearly one million cancer patients annually, often free of charge. The Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS) – Pakistan’s top-ranked university and among the world’s best – produces world-class scientists and engineers who drive excellence across sectors.
These achievements align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. They demonstrate that Pakistan’s nuclear programme is not merely a military asset but a comprehensive national enterprise contributing to poverty alleviation, clean energy, health, education, climate action and environmental protection – all despite a discriminatory international export-control regime.
Our nuclear stewardship remains second to none. A robust command-and-control architecture, anchored in the National Command Authority and Strategic Plans Division, layered personnel reliability programmes, and active IAEA collaboration ensure impeccable safety and security. Zero-incident records reflect institutional maturity, not luck. That is a fail-safe mechanism that would be the envy of major powers.
This Youm-e-Takbeer is a reminder that strategic stability in South Asia cannot rest on deterrence alone. Unresolved disputes, particularly in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and pressures on the Indus Waters Treaty framework remain central drivers of instability. Stability must ultimately be built through their just and peaceful resolution, supported by preventive diplomacy and reciprocal restraint.
Pakistan has consistently shown openness to meaningful dialogue and crisis-management mechanisms. We reject any regional order built on coercion. Youm-e-Takbeer therefore carries a dual message. Takbeer was our roar of sovereign resolve in 1998. The disciplined strength demonstrated in 2025, Bunyanum Marsoos in action, is its living proof: restraint by design, deterrence by maturity. This nuclear programme remains a unifying national endeavour, an island of excellence that shows what focused Pakistani resolve can achieve despite all odds.
The power of the atom, in Pakistani hands, has always served one purpose: safeguarding the nation so that its people can build a better future. As we mark this day, we salute our scientists, engineers, soldiers, and statesmen whose quiet dedication has made Pakistan safer and stronger. Beyond measuring this legacy in kilotons or megawatts, the people of Pakistan also value the peace dividend it delivers – the freedom to innovate, develop and secure a prosperous future for generations to come. Pakistan Zindabad.
The writer is a former brigadier with expertise in deterrence, arms control and disarmament affairs.
