Date

Aug 20, 1981

Description

An International Atomic Energy Agency finding that Pakistan may have diverted plutonium from the Karachi nuclear power plant was raising questions about the adequacy of safeguards, but intelligence reports suggested that the Pakistanis "were not overly concerned" about the accusations. More serious were the implications of U.S.-Pakistani discussions of the sale of advanced F-16 fighter-bombers as part of a larger U.S. aid package to secure Pakistan's collaboration in the covert war against Soviet forces in Afghanistan. Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi worried that Pakistan's nuclear program and its slated acquisition of F-16s posed a "great security threat" that raised the risk of war.

Source

Mandatory Review Request

Document published in following posting(s):

New Documents Spotlight Reagan-era Tensions over Pakistani Nuclear Program

Apr 27, 2012

A "Great Security Threat" to India. Acting Special Assistant for Nuclear Proliferation Intelligence, National Foreign Assessment Center, to Director and Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, "Warning Report – Nuclear Proliferation," 20 August 1981, Top Secret, Excised Copy