Pakistan's Quest for Security and the Indo-U.S. Nuclear Deal

Abstract

Abstract This study examines the imperatives of Pakistan's security since independence and how the failure of alliances with the United States forced Pakistan to seek security from external threats through an indigenous deterrence capability. The turning point was the 1971 emergence of Bangladesh through the partition of Pakistan forced by an Indo-Soviet axis. Subsequently, in 1974, India injected the nuclear factor into South Asia. Pakistan then followed a path trodden by other nuclear nations in building the bomb. The study also examines in detail the recent Indo-U.S. nuclear deal and its implications for South Asian security. However, Pakistan continues to play its pivotal role as a country that is at the center of gravity of both the campaign against terror and confluence of South and Central Asia, driven by energy, and propelling Pakistan to be the bridge between these two regions. For the first time in Pakistan's history, it is now in a unique position to deter outside aggression on its own without ...