Father of Pakistan`s Nuclear Bomb Abdul Qadeer Khan dies, his notorious legacy is kept alive

New Delhi: Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan was a famous Pakistani nuclear scientist and metallurgical engineer who is regarded as the father of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme. Khan gave Pakistan the gas-centrifuge enrichment technology that it used for its nuclear deterrence programme. As the head of Pakistan’s nuclear program 25, he is considered a national hero. But while he is lauded as a hero in his home country, as per the former CIA Director George Tenet, Khan is at least as dangerous as Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks on the US.

For decades Khan was involved in the black market of nuclear technology and sold and traded his expertise to countries like Iran, North Korea, Libya and many more. Khan was not only responsible for single-handedly jumpstarting Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme but also gave the technology for weapons of mass destruction to unstable and dictatorial regimes like North Korea and Iran.

Khan didn’t start out as a nuclear spy but inevitably that is how things turned out. After Pakistan’s defeat to India in 1971, Pakistan wished to build a nuclear bomb as a future deterrent. During this time, Khan was working at a European company involved in building centrifuges to enrich uranium. Khan secretly copied the files he required and returned to Pakistan, where he set about building and enhancing Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and also spreading nuclear technologies to rogue nations. Khan was a major contributor to Iran's centrifuge programme at Natanz and also exchanged nuclear technology with North Korea in exchange for missile technology.

According to historical records, Khan had a close and cordial relationship with General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq and the Military of Pakistan. In particular, he maintained a close relationship with Pakistan’s Air Force. After years of globe-trotting and selling nuclear technology to rogues states, the US finally confronted with evidence of Khan’s action and he was put under house arrest in 2004. On October 10, 2021 he passed away at the age of 85.

But even with Khan’s death, Pakistan’s role in providing nuclear technologies to rogue nations and dictatorial leaders continues. In a recent development, Pakistan has formed a nexus with Turkey and is fully supporting President Erdogan in his ambition to turn Turkey into the world’s next nuclear power. According to reports, there have been high-level military dialogues between Pakistan and Turkey. One of these meetings took place on December 22 last year. The Pakistani delegation was led by Defence Secretary Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Mian Muhammad Hilal Hussain, while the Turkish side had sent Deputy Chief of Turkish Army, General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu to lead their delegation. The Pakistani delegation visited top Turkish defence companies and even met with the CEO of Turkish Aerospace Limited (TAI).

These indicators all point towards nuclear delivery and collaboration being the main goal of the dialogue. In a more recent meeting, Pakistan’s Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), General Nadeem Raza, visited Turkey from 27th March to 2nd April this year. During his visit, Raza met with Turkey’s Chief of General Staff, General Yaşar Güler and both of them discussed collaborations on several military projects and existing geopolitical issues. Turkish President Erdogan has already publicly stated that he wishes to create ‘Caliphate atom bomb’ in order to create a new Caliphate and dominate the Muslim world.

In addition to blatantly assisting Turkey in acquiring nuclear capabilities, Pakistan is also subtly assisting Ukraine in getting hold of its own nuclear arsenal. Given the geo-political situation of Ukraine, it finds itself threatened by its Russian neighbour and as a result, more than 20 years after willingly giving up its nuclear arsenal, it has once again begun to have nuclear ambitions in order to safeguard the country’s security.

At the same time, Pakistan has been attempting to increase military and defence ties with Ukraine and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa the country in order to further bilateral ties.

Pakistan already has an infamous reputation of bartering its nuclear expertise to other nations in exchange for benefits to other military sectors. In this regard, Pakistan has shown interest in several Ukrainian military hardware like the Oplot tank and Skif missiles and thus the very real possibility exists that Pakistan may exchange nuclear know-how in exchange for military hardware from Ukraine.

There are three factors that point towards Pakistan’s collaboration with Ukraine - Ukraine’s renewed willingness to acquire nuclear weapons, Pakistan’s past wherein they repeatedly sold nuclear secrets to rogue nations like North Korea and Iran (and continues to do so in Turkey) and Pakistan’s unbridled attempts to enhance bilateral ties with Ukraine.