President Zia died in a plane crash in 1988 , and Benazir Bhutto , daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto , was elected as the country 's first female Prime Minister . The PPP was followed by conservative Pakistan Muslim League ( N ) , and over the next decade the leaders of the two parties fought for power , alternating in office while the country 's situation worsened ; economic indicators fell sharply , in contrast to the 1980s . This period is marked by prolonged stagflation , instability , corruption , nationalism , geopolitical rivalry with India , and the clash of left wing-right wing ideologies . As PML ( N ) secured a supermajority in elections in 1997 , Sharif authorised nuclear testings ( See : '' Chagai-I '' and '' Chagai-II '' ) , as a retaliation to the second nuclear tests ordered by India , led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in May 1998
second nuclear tests
Pokhran-II
Pakistan