Three years after Pakistan's defeat on 1971 Indo-Pak Winter war, India, under Indian Premier Indira Gandhi carried out a nuclear test explosion. On May 18 of 1974, India conducted a surprise nuclear test, codenamed Smiling Buddha, near the Pakistan's eastern border. The test greatly alarmed the Government of Pakistan, and Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto quickly scrambled to establish a sustainable nuclear weapons capability.
Meanwhile, in scientific research started on January 20, 1972, the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), under Munir Ahmad Khan and Abdus Salam, was exploring both Plutonium and Uranium route to developing an atomic device. The uranium route was considered a secondary route, as PAEC was concentrating and putting an effort to developing the first plutonium weapon-grade device. During 1972, Abdul Qadeer Khan, as senior scientist, was working in a centrifuge production facility in the Netherlands, and began to approach Pakistan government officials offering to help with Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence programme. At first, he approached a pair of Pakistani military scientists who were in the Netherlands on business. At the Pakistan Embassy, the military scientists discouraged him by saying: "As a metallurgical engineer, it would be a hard job for him to find a job in PAEC (Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission)".
Undaunted, Abdul Qadeer Khan wrote to Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, saying, "he sets out his experience and encourages Prime Minister Bhutto to make a nuclear bomb using uranium, rather than plutonium, the method Pakistan is currently trying to adopt under the leadership of Munir Ahmad Khan".
In December 1974, Abdul Qadeer Khan went to Pakistan to meet Zulfikar Bhutto and PAEC Chairman Munir Ahmad Khan at the Prime minister Secretariat. During the meeting, he was unable to convince Bhutto to adopt uranium as the best approach rather than plutonium to make an atomic device. As Munir Ahmad Khan was a plutonium technologist, Zulfikar Bhutto did not agree to halt the plutonium efforts but moved to begin a parallel uranium program. Later that evening, Zulfikar Bhutto met with his close friend Munir Ahmad Khan in his house, where he told him that, "He [Abdul Qadeer Khan] seems to make sense." Abdul Qadeer Khan again approached Bhutto and tried to convince him to halt the plutonium pursuit. In a meeting with Bhutto, Munir Ahmad Khan and senior academic scientists and engineers at PAEC believed that they could run the reactor without Canadian assistance, and they insisted that with the French extraction plant in the offing, Pakistan should stick with its original plan. Bhutto did not disagree, but saw the advantage of mounting a parallel effort toward enriched uranium.
The uranium enrichment programme was secretly started in 1972 by Sultan Bashiruddin Mehmood. Following the surprise Indian nuclear test, the secret project was launched in May 1974 by PAEC as Codename— Project-706. Sultan Mahmood, a nuclear engineer, was made the project-director. Before Abdul Qadeer Khan's joining, the uranium route was considered secondary route, and most efforts were put to develop a device with weapon-grade plutonium. In spring of 1976, Abdul Qadeer Khan joined the programme, and worked initially under Sultan Mahmood However, the pair disagreed, and Abdul Qadeer Khan became highly unsatisfied with the work led by Mahmood. He wrote a letter to Munir Ahmad Khan, later directed to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, where he expressed his discontent with Mahmood and saying that he wanted to work independently.
Meanwhile, in scientific research started on January 20, 1972, the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), under Munir Ahmad Khan and Abdus Salam, was exploring both Plutonium and Uranium route to developing an atomic device. The uranium route was considered a secondary route, as PAEC was concentrating and putting an effort to developing the first plutonium weapon-grade device. During 1972, Abdul Qadeer Khan, as senior scientist, was working in a centrifuge production facility in the Netherlands, and began to approach Pakistan government officials offering to help with Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence programme. At first, he approached a pair of Pakistani military scientists who were in the Netherlands on business. At the Pakistan Embassy, the military scientists discouraged him by saying: "As a metallurgical engineer, it would be a hard job for him to find a job in PAEC (Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission)".
Undaunted, Abdul Qadeer Khan wrote to Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, saying, "he sets out his experience and encourages Prime Minister Bhutto to make a nuclear bomb using uranium, rather than plutonium, the method Pakistan is currently trying to adopt under the leadership of Munir Ahmad Khan".
In December 1974, Abdul Qadeer Khan went to Pakistan to meet Zulfikar Bhutto and PAEC Chairman Munir Ahmad Khan at the Prime minister Secretariat. During the meeting, he was unable to convince Bhutto to adopt uranium as the best approach rather than plutonium to make an atomic device. As Munir Ahmad Khan was a plutonium technologist, Zulfikar Bhutto did not agree to halt the plutonium efforts but moved to begin a parallel uranium program. Later that evening, Zulfikar Bhutto met with his close friend Munir Ahmad Khan in his house, where he told him that, "He [Abdul Qadeer Khan] seems to make sense." Abdul Qadeer Khan again approached Bhutto and tried to convince him to halt the plutonium pursuit. In a meeting with Bhutto, Munir Ahmad Khan and senior academic scientists and engineers at PAEC believed that they could run the reactor without Canadian assistance, and they insisted that with the French extraction plant in the offing, Pakistan should stick with its original plan. Bhutto did not disagree, but saw the advantage of mounting a parallel effort toward enriched uranium.
The uranium enrichment programme was secretly started in 1972 by Sultan Bashiruddin Mehmood. Following the surprise Indian nuclear test, the secret project was launched in May 1974 by PAEC as Codename— Project-706. Sultan Mahmood, a nuclear engineer, was made the project-director. Before Abdul Qadeer Khan's joining, the uranium route was considered secondary route, and most efforts were put to develop a device with weapon-grade plutonium. In spring of 1976, Abdul Qadeer Khan joined the programme, and worked initially under Sultan Mahmood However, the pair disagreed, and Abdul Qadeer Khan became highly unsatisfied with the work led by Mahmood. He wrote a letter to Munir Ahmad Khan, later directed to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, where he expressed his discontent with Mahmood and saying that he wanted to work independently.
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