Mohsin-e-Pakistan: Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan’s Nuclear Legacy

There is no doubt that Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan has played a critical role in developing our national defense strategy to counter foreign threats. Many people in these turbulent times debate the relevancy of our nuclear technology, but I need to remind you that without Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan’s contribution, the world for us Pakistanis would have been much different, something that would have been much worse than what we are experiencing right now. Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, even though he made a significant impact on our nation’s military power projection, was also known to have made a substantial impact on the global nuclear landscape.

Dr. AQ Khan was initially born in Bhopal, India, and later immigrated to Pakistan in 1952, where he graduated from the University of Karachi with a degree in metallurgy. Later on, he pursued his education abroad, first in West Berlin and then in Delft, Netherlands, where, by 1967, he had received a master’s degree in metallurgy. By 1972, he had received his doctorate in metallurgical engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. Khan later joined the Physical Dynamics Research Laboratory, a subcontractor for URENCO, which was a consortium of multiple British, German, and Dutch companies involved in the research and development of uranium enrichment through the use of ultracentrifuges. Initially, when Khan joined the organization, he was provided with low-level security clearance, but through lax oversight, he managed to gain access to a full range of information and material related to the ultracentrifuge.

The War of 1971 was a turning point in Khan’s life, where the loss of Pakistan with the independence of Bangladesh made him realize that the country needed a boost to its defensive capabilities in order to avoid 1971 failure in the future. The 1971 war led to a series of events that changed the overall geopolitical landscape of South Asia. Khan initially sent a letter to Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in relation to the announcement of Pakistan’s nuclear program, in which Khan highlighted the importance of centrifuges for uranium enrichment rather than Pakistan’s earlier plutonium path. Khan later met Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1974 and encouraged him to do everything in his domain to acquire nuclear technology for Pakistan. The following year, Khan acquired drawings of centrifuges and assembled a list of European suppliers where parts could be procured for Pakistan’s nuclear program.

Khan initially worked with the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, but later on he founded a separate research institution, Engineering Research Laboratory, which was later renamed Khan Research Laboratory. Khan’s base of operations was in Kahuta, where he developed a prototype centrifuge based on German designs, and he used his supplier list to acquire components from various European companies. Khan’s extensive network for acquiring nuclear materials helped Pakistan achieve its nuclear capability. Dr. Abdul Qadeer’s extensive work in our nuclear sector has allowed our nation to both use nuclear technology as an energy source and for our defensive policies. Without Khan’s contribution, Pakistan’s entire defensive strategy would have been completely different.