ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan answered India’s nuclear tests with five underground detonations of its own today and said it was capping a long-range missile with nuclear warheads, escalating the arms race between the rival nations.
Hours later, Pakistani President Rafiq Tarar declared a state of emergency, citing an unspecified “threat by the external aggression to the security of Pakistan,” the state-run news agency reported.
The order suspended the nation’s constitution and legal system. The terse announcement did not identify who the aggressor might be but Pakistan has accused neighboring India of threatening to attack its nuclear installations.
News of the tests set off street celebrations across the country, with joyful Pakistanis shooting their guns into the air and offering each other congratulatory sweets.
In New Delhi, the Indian capital, it sent parliament into an uproar, with opposition lawmakers leaping from their seats to blame the government for setting off a nuclear arms race on the subcontinent.
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said the report “vindicated” India’s decision to test nuclear devices to counteract Pakistan’s secret weapons program and suggested that India may reconsider its self-imposed ban on further nuclear tests.