ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the start of peaceful nuclear research in Pakistan and the subsequent, explicit change in the direction of nuclear weapons. The Indians set the pace for nuclear research in South Asia, and it was the model that the Pakistanis were to use for their own efforts. The early aims of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Committee were to survey the country for radioactive minerals and to make recommendations for a nuclear research institute in the country. Pakistan signed a Mutual Defence Assistance Agreement with the United States in 1954 and it was to Washington that Pakistan looked for help with its nuclear research. Pakistan has always been sensitive about the direction of nuclear research in neighbouring India. Sensational media revelations about what Pakistan was hoping to achieve aroused world-wide interest in the Kahuta plant and the activities of its staff. The Pakistanis were clearly sensitive about their secret installation.
