Navigating South Asia's Nuclear Dynamics: Indo-Israeli Plot, Pakistan's Response, and Diplomacy

South Asia is considered one of the most volatile regions in the world, where two nuclear powers reside. There is ongoing hostility among nuclear powerhouses. The two have fought in three wars. However, there's a possibility of a future nuclear conflict between the two countries with unresolved conflicts. India was repeatedly planning to strike Pakistan's nuclear facility located in Kahota in Pakistan, where the country's enrichment programme for uranium was announced in the beginning of 1976 under the guidance under the Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan better known as the Khan Research Laboratories (K.R.L). Pakistan threatened to back them by destruction of their nuclear facilities in the event that Kahota was attack. The Pakistani nuclear program and the apparent progress made in the nuclear field were reactionary in nature, pointing to the secret Indian plans to develop an Atomic bomb.

Before discussing India's covert plan to attack Kahota in 1983 and 1984 It is appropriate to look at how the Indian in the context of Pakistan and India's Pakistan nuclear programs. India has created a solid nuclear infrastructure and a massive nuclear program that aims to safeguard the interests of the nation as a nuclear power in the region. The most significant incident in the 1970s altered the entire scenario. It was an Indian explosive test called the Peaceful Nuclear Explosion (P.N.E). The main goal of the Indian nuclear program became clear particularly in the mid 1980s, when they began to work on constructing hydrogen or thermonuclear bombs.

When the Pakistani nuclear program is concerned, the program was initiated in the 1950s when the government set up the Atomic Energy Committee with the intention of developing plans for the peaceful utilization of nuclear energy. In contrast to India, Pakistan had no specific nuclear policy for various reasons, including an undeveloped nuclear programme, political instability, a lack of a competent leader, etc. Some politicians had plans to utilize nuclear energy to pursue peaceful goals while others were in favor of the idea of developing an nuclear bomb.

Pakistan's nuclear advancement was primarily security-driven and centred around India. The 1960s were a significant turning point in Pakistan's nuclear policy after she realized that she was not interpreting its Indian intentions. India declared that its nuclear technology was aimed at peaceful uses for the production of nuclear energy, however at the same time , she began developing the development of nuclear explosive technology. This is in contrast to the Indian nuclear program; Pakistan's program was not reactive. Similar to the Indo-Pakistan war in 1971, that ended with Pakistan's defeat, as well as the following events , including Indian testing of nuclear weapons in 1974, was to be a turning point, and the need for an equalizer resulted in the 1970s to pursue the nuclear option.

Pakistan made the technological leap to produce or test nuclear weapons as early as the 1980s, but it remained adamant about conducting a nuclear test for different reasons. In fact, Pakistan ensured that her nuclear program is not aimed to achieve an international or regional power status, but rather to safeguard her territorial integrity in situation of any external threat and to create a nuclear weapons. Since the 1970s, the Pakistani nuclear program has been at the centre of controversy after controversy. The principal reason for the program's being criticized in international media as well as academic publications was its portrayal by western media as well as Indian academics as the "Islamic bomb". The moment was critical; India started criticizing Pakistan's nuclear program and even contemplated collaboration with Israel to destroy the nuclear reactor in Kahota.

The idea of an "Islamic Bomb" has attracted the attention of the west, mainly Indian and Israel with the fear that Pakistan nuclear bombs will be sold or given to the Muslim militants in the world. It was the Hindu and Jewish lobby groups began to denounce Pakistan's nuclear program , calling it an "Islamic Bomb" and continued to reiterate the notion on local and international forums that an Islamic Bomb will be used against the Jewish State and India.

Since the time of the beginning of Israel did not wish for her neighbors and in particular those in the Muslim the world, to be nuclear. In this regard, she eliminated an Iraqi nuclear reactor dubbed "Osriak" in Operation Babylon in May 1981. This was because Pakistan was concerned that its nuclear facilities would become the next target of the Jewish mistake. There was evidence that India along and the Israeli Air Force had made plans for a covert military strike against Kahota in the years 1983-83, making use of Indian air bases to launch and refueling Jewish warplanes. The two countries, India and Israel, enjoyed good relations on the intelligence level. To carry out their dirty scheme, Indian military officials went on a secret trip to Israel to purchase electronic warfare equipments that would neutralize Kahota's Air Defense. They had planned to cross into Pakistan through radar, using warplanes, which would cross the Himalayas through Kashmir. Later, Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi ratified the plan to permit Israeli warplanes to conduct the raids in conjunction with Indian Air Force from Indian air bases. Pakistan's Naval intelligence, alerted to the threats also tracked suspicious activity near the border cities. Pakistan Air Force intelligence intercepted Israel identity suspect F.16s from the other side of the border. The question then is what they did not do to carry out their unwise strategy.

The dirty Indo-Israel plan failed to achieve due to two reasons. First, the plan was canceled in the face the threat of U.S State Department threat as Pakistan was a major ally of United States in war against U.S.S.R in the region. In addition, Pakistan through diplomatic means sent out the message and warned both Indians as well as Israel that in the event that Kahota was attacked, Pakistan could strike Indian nuclear facilities in Trombay along with Israel's own nuclear facility located in The Negev Desert respectively.

To make the long story in half, Pakistan fully heeded on plan for air defense of nuclear facilities by securing modern combat aircraft and weapons. Pakistan's capability to retaliate was five times less than that of the enemy's air force. The Indo-Israel Air Force could reach to strike the target in just three minutes, while the P.A.F required an additional eight minutes to respond. Thus, diplomatic means and P.A.F's aggressive approach and tactics as part of Operation Sentinel's counter-operation surprised the Indo-Israel Air Force. The operation was stopped without success.