When was pakistan allowed to have nukes?

This question implies that there is some authority higher than the state (state = country in poli sci terms), which is false. the international community is considered in Anarchy. Which means there is no one above the state level governing a state As opposed to for example, in the 1600 when the catholic church and the pope had authority over many states. So to answer your question, pakistan has always been allowed to have nukes, just like every one else.

They developed nuclear weapons in the 90’s, around the same time as India. I’m pretty sure that Pakistan used nuclear power for decades.

And they weren’t “allowed” to develop nukes, they didn’t need anyone’s permission.

What do you mean by “allowed”? Ummm…If you are an independant country you can pretty much do what the fuck you please.

In completely literal terms it’s true that every country can have nuclear weapons but signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty must police themselves.

Pakistan is not part to the NPT or any other such treaty so it can do so without contravention of international law.

Can the UN impose sanctions on such things?

I think the question is referencing the media’s coverage of how India has been applauded for going nuclear, but when their neighbor, Pakistan similarly did it, western countries expressed concern about their (Pakistan’s) technology getting into the hands of terrorists, since Afghanistan borders Pakistan.

The United States has shown preferential treatment to India in it’s nuclear achievements, and contrastedly, expressed concerns about India’s rival, Pakistan, reaching the same milestone for its country at the same time.

Pakistan is Muslim. India is Hindu. Do you think there’s a connection?

Well, any country are allowed (by themselves) to do pretty much as they please… the big question is wther or not the other countries feel they are beeing threatened by them haveing said weapon.
It is a complex situation, if a country is more likely to use those weapons on you or any any friend of yours, they are still allowed to have them. The question is really if anybody gives them a the ultimatum of if you gt nukes, you also will get a war on your hands… because some nations thinks that offense is the best defense.

Its like if the guy who hates you and wants to se you dead buys a pistol, then IF you have a larger gun you have the option of either wait in uncertany to see if he does something, kick his door down to take his gun, or get the police to take a look. (the police here beeing nato/the un)

@susanc: I believe there was some political bias because of the dominating religion in each country, since Pakistan borders Afghanistan and therefore associated with terrorists crossing their borders at will. Of course, India has had a long history of friendly relations with the western powers (British), were previously invaded and run by British – unlike Pakistan, which became independent and not interested in maintaining close connections with any particular western country after its inception.