In 1988 , Pakistan and India reached an important understanding towards controlling the nuclear weapons , and signed the NNAA treaty . Despite many proposals , the nuclear race continued and the cold war had been heightened over the issue of Kashmir . The domestic pressure and the increasingly political momentum , India conducted the nuclear tests ( see : Operation Shakti ) in May 1998 , in spite of international pressure . Responding to India 's test , Pakistan equalised the nuclear magnitude in South Asia after performing its own series of atomic tests , ( see : Chagai-I ) , all in the end month of May 1998 . The tests invited condemnation and economic sanctions on both countries and many fear in the international community that in a wake of intensified conflict , it could lead to nuclear war
Operation Shakti
Pokhran-II
Lahore Declaration