Sharif

In this story

• Pakistan: 'We have settled the score'
• Pakistan to lose U.S. aid
• Reactions
• Pakistan plans nuclear missile
• This time, U.S. intelligence knew
• Sanctions hurt Pakistan more than India
• Related stories/sites

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan said Thursday it was acting in self-defense when it detonated five underground nuclear devices, the same number tested by neighboring India earlier this month. The United States, which failed to persuade Pakistan to show restraint, planned to punish the Islamabad government by imposing sanctions, just as it did with India.

Clinton

President Clinton deplored Pakistan's decision to follow India's lead. "Although Pakistan was not the first to test, two wrongs don't make a right," he said. ( 2.5MB/30 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

In making its announcement, Pakistan also said it was ready to place a nuclear warhead in a newly tested long-range missile.

The underground detonations in a remote western region of Pakistan occurred about 3:30 p.m. (1030 GMT/6:30 a.m. EDT) in the Chagai region of Pakistan's desolate southwestern Baluchistan province.

The site is barely 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the border with Iran and Afghanistan.

'We have settled the score'

"We have settled the score," Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said in a nationally televised address defending the test explosions. "I am thankful to God."

"We were never trying to get into a nuclear race," said Sharif, blaming India for pushing Pakistan "into this position."

Sharif said India's recent nuclear tests violently tilted the balance of power in the region, and combined with India's deployment of long-range Prithvi missiles against Pakistan, seriously threatened his country's security.

Sharif's speech after his country's tests 25 min. 15 sec. VXtreme video

President Clinton's reaction to Pakistan's tests 2 min. 15 sec. VXtreme video

Interviews with the Pakistani ambassador to the United Nations and Indian ambassador to the United States 7 min. 25 sec. VXtreme video

He criticized the international community for imposing weak punishment on India after it carried out five nuclear tests two weeks ago. "The world should have sanctioned India fully ... but they didn't."

Sharif did not offer any information about the type or strength of the devices Pakistan exploded. Earlier reports indicated that the number of test explosions was two or three.

Pakistan to lose U.S. aid

The Pakistani leader also said sanctions would not be justified because his country was only protecting itself from India's nuclear threat.

But White House officials said the sanctions would include a cut-off of most U.S. aid to Pakistan and a suspension of U.S. backing for international lending to the South Asian nation.

Aid to Pakistan from the U.S. totals a mere $6 million, but Pakistan depends heavily on loans from International lending agencies like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

"By failing to exercise restraint," Clinton said in Washington, "Pakistan lost a truly priceless opportunity to strengthen its own security (and) improve its political standing in the world."

Under U.S. law, Clinton is required to impose sanctions on nations that detonate nuclear devices.

The Bomb:Who has it? Who wants it? A cold war of words:Gauging the rhetoric exchanged between India, Pakistan TIME:Why the CIA didn't have a clue... Treaty Text: Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Background Special:India and Pakistan -- Fifty years of independence Message Board:Will India's testing prompt new arms race? Related Site: Federation of American Scientists Bulletin of Atomic Scientists

The president urged both India and Pakistan to "renounce further tests, sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and take decisive steps to reduce tensions in South Asia and reverse the dangerous arms race."

White House spokesman Mike McCurry revealed that Clinton and Sharif had spoken to each other by telephone late Wednesday night in a "very intense" 25-minute call during which Clinton begged Sharif not to conduct a test.

Reactions

The news of the tests set off street celebrations in Islamabad, with joyful Pakistanis shooting their guns into the air.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said the Pakistan detonations showed that India was correct to conduct its own nuclear tests. India's nuclear policy has been "vindicated," Vajpayee told parliament.

Opposition lawmakers lept from their seats and accused Vajpayee's government of setting off a nuclear arms race on the subcontinent.

Pakistan plans nuclear missile

In announcing the explosions, Pakistan said it was giving nuclear muscle to the Ghauri missile, which it tested on April 6. The missile has a range of 900 miles (1,500 kilometers) making it capable of striking most parts of India.

"The long-range Ghauri missile is already being capped with the nuclear warheads to give a befitting reply to any misadventure by the enemy," a government statement said.

India has said it planned no more tests after the five it conducted on May 11 and May 13, so an immediate response in the form of more Indian tests was unlikely.

This time, U.S. intelligence knew

In Washington, a U.S. intelligence official said policy-makers were warned Wednesday night that tests were imminent and that the tests were confirmed by independent means, including seismic sensors.

"The fact that they did this comes as no surprise," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. India's tests caught U.S. intelligence off guard in what some members of Congress called a major spy lapse.

Sanctions hurt Pakistan more than India

Since it detonated its nuclear devices, India has been slapped with economic sanctions, most recently this week when the World Bank indefinitely postponed a decision on whether to extend more than $800 million in loans to the impoverished nation.

Pakistan, unlike India, is heavily dependent on international assistance and loans. Sanctions are bound to seriously hurt an economy already struggling to survive. Many economists fear that this country of 140 million people may be forced to default on its $800 million debt payment due at the end of June.

Pakistan and India have fought three wars since the subcontinent gained independence from Britain in 1947 -- in 1948, 1965 and again in 1971.

Pakistan went ahead with the testing even after Australia offered Wednesday to double its aid to Pakistan next year if it refrained -- from $1.6 million to $3.1 million.

Message board:

• India and Pakistan nuclear tests

Special section:

• India and Pakistan

Related stories:

• U.S. sources: Pakistan edging closer to nuclear tests - May 27, 1998
• Pakistan: U.S. 'guessing' about imminent nuclear test - May 27, 1998
• India ready to discuss 'no first use' nuclear pact - May 27, 1998
• Pakistan: Nuclear test is not imminent - May 26, 1998
• Sources: Pakistan ready for nuclear test - May 26, 1998

Related sites:

• DAWN - Pakistan Newspaper
• Pakistan Television
• Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation - Radio Pakistan
• The Government of Pakistan - official site
• Embassy of Pakistan in Washington, D.C.
• The Official Pakistan Page
• Indian Ministry of External Affairs
  • Press release: India conducts nuclear tests
• Bharat Rakshak - Consortium of Indian military websites
• The Indian Parliament
• The Times of India
• Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Site
• The Atomic Archive