Nawaz Sharif has earned the rare distinction of visiting the Kahuta
Research Laboratories (KRL) for another time, fourth in a row, during his three stints as prime minister over the past 23 years, showing the confidence of the strategic organisations in his credentials.
He paid the visit on the 121st day of assumption of the office of the prime minister. Generally, such occasions are provided a considerable time after the coming in of the new chief executive. For his own reasons, Nawaz Sharif has not named his defence minister and himself holds the position.
The fact that Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar accompanied the prime minister indicated that the financial needs of the strategic programme would be properly looked after as usual and there would be no interruption in providing adequate funds.
During his earlier periods in office, Nawaz Sharif had also visited the KRL. He has always been kept in complete picture of the nuclear programme. It was during his second term as prime minister in May 1998 when Pakistan went nuclear in response to India’s nuclear detonations, lifting the veil on its secret programme.
Nawaz Sharif’s visit to the KRL took place shortly before his decision to appoint the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, which will also determine the next Chief of Army Staff. It also shows the grip of the civilian government over all the organizations of the state in its initial days.
In addition, the prime minister paid the visit just two weeks before he travels to Washington for his first official trip to hold talks with President Barack Obama and senior officials.
On the other hand, throughout his entire five-year term as president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari did not pay even a single visit to the KRL, Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters (GHQ), any key military and strategic installation or the areas where the troops are fighting the anti-terror war and rendering matchless sacrifices.
However, reservations have at times been expressed by the top military circles that this attitude at the highest level of the civilian leadership did not augur well for the morale of the officers and soldiers.
But it is not clear whether Zardari himself kept himself away from such visits or he was not encouraged by the quarters concerned to undertake them.
Apparently, security concerns or other unexplained reasons turned out to be the major stumbling block in the way of any trip of Zardari to important military and strategic locations and sites.
However, Benazir Bhutto was certainly never allowed to pay such trips when she held the topmost position. Particularly, her first tenure as premier was always viewed with deep suspicions by the military establishment and she was subjected to intensive surveillance. At the time President Ghulam Ishaq Khan was the principal hurdle for her.
Unlike Zardari, his Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani did visit the KRL once on March 24, 2009 where he said the government was fully aware of the country’s defence needs and was pursuing a policy of maintaining credible minimum deterrence for the sake of peace and stability in the region. He addressed the nuclear scientists and said the focus of the government policy was strong defence preparedness and stable economy, which were necessary for sustainable peace in the region.
His successor Raja Pervez Ashraf, who held the office for just nine months, did not find time or was not seriously taken by the circles concerned to visit the KRL or any other strategic installation. Or he was too busy in other pressing preoccupations as he had a short time at its disposal while he had a lot to do.
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