ISLAMABAD: Pakistan TV Digital has released a special documentary, “Pakistan Equal Among Powers,” to mark Youm-e-Takbir, commemorating Pakistan’s nuclear tests conducted on May 28, 1998.
Youm-e-Takbir is observed as a national day in Pakistan in remembrance of the Chagai-I and Chagai-II nuclear tests, which made Pakistan the seventh nuclear-armed state in the world and the first in the Muslim world to acquire nuclear weapons capability.
The documentary brings together accounts from key figures associated with the 1998 tests, including former Information Minister Mushahid Hussain, former Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmad Khan, nuclear scientist Dr. Samar Mubarakmand, academic Lawrence Freedman and author Feroz Hassan Khan.
Through interviews and archival footage, it traces the events leading to Pakistan’s decision to conduct the tests despite international pressure and the prospect of economic sanctions.
Recalling the period before the tests, Mushahid Hussain said Pakistan faced intense diplomatic pressure, including “five calls from President Clinton, three calls from Tony Blair,” urging Islamabad not to respond to India’s nuclear tests.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, in archival remarks featured in the documentary, said world leaders repeatedly urged Pakistan not to conduct nuclear tests.
“India has done it, but you should not,” he recalled being told.
The film also revisits the operation at Chagai through the testimony of Dr Samar Mubarakmand, who led the nuclear test team.
Describing the moment of detonation, he said the team chose to say “Allah-o-Akbar and press the button” instead of a conventional countdown.
In its concluding message, the documentary argues that Pakistan’s nuclear capability fundamentally altered its strategic position.
“The bomb did not make Pakistan wealthy. It did not make Pakistan safe from every threat. It made Pakistan addressable in the first language. It made Pakistan equal among powers.”
The documentary was released as Pakistan marked the 28th anniversary of Youm-e-Takbir, a milestone widely regarded in the country as a defining moment in its national security history.
