Pokhran-II | Pokhran |
In the 1990s, Germany condemned India's 1998 nuclear tests, but has since expanded its co-operation with India in fighting terrorism and conducting joint military exercises.
The Dhruv first flew in 1992; but development was prolonged due to multiple factors: the Indian Army's requirement alterations, budget restrictions, and sanctions placed on India following the 1998 Pokhran-II Indian nuclear testing.
However, several factors including the US embargo following India's 1998 nuclear tests forced the project to run behind schedule.
The project almost came to a halt when it was hit by US-imposed sanctions in 1998, after India's nuclear tests in Pokhran.
In May 1998, when India tested its fission devices in Pokhran, the Pakistani government gave the scientists a green signal to test the nuclear weapon.
The interrogations revealed that the Baloch hijackers were opposed to any nuclear test in their native Balochistan province following the recent Indian nuclear testing.
Due to a crash programme directed by Munir Ahmad Khan and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Pakistan is the seventh nation to have developed an atomic bomb, which the global intelligence community believes it had done by 1983 (see Kirana-I), nine years after the India (see Pokhran-I).