Zia promised Reagan Pakistan would not build nukes: CIA documents

ISLAMABAD: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on Thursday made public a letter from then-Pakistani President Zia-ul-Haq in which he had assured his counterpart Ronald Reagan that Pakistan would not build nuclear weapons. 

The letter, dated July 5, 1982, was written by military dictator General Zia-ul-Haq to American President Ronald Reagan in which he assured him that Pakistan would not build nuclear weapons. 

In the letter, Zia had claimed that Pakistan was pursuing its nuclear programme in order derive benefits only for peaceful purposes. Zia had written that Pakistan would not take a step in the nuclear arena which would affect America and bring shame to it. Zia had written that Pakistan did not aim to acquire or build nuclear weapons. 

The letter is one such document among a 13 million of them, released by the CIA online.