Celebrations over Pakistan's successful nuclear tests continued throughout the country yesterday, with thousands of people attending rallies and demonstrations.
In the capital, Islamabad, demonstrators from one of the opposition parties called for a Jihad or "holy war" against Pakistan's arch-enemy India, which earlier this month exploded its own nuclear devices triggering the arms race that now threatens to engulf the south Asia region.
At the country's largest mosque in the capital yesterday, thousands of people flocked for prayers; in his sermon, the Imam praised the government decision to make Pakistan a member of the nuclear club and thanked God for the development of the first "Islamic" bomb.
Outside the Faisal mosque, worshippers spoke of their pride at becoming a nuclear power. "Being a proud Pakistani and a proud Muslim, we have done something great which we should have done long before," said one man; "right now the morale of the people of Pakistan is sky-high."
"We are happy that we have now become a nuclear power," said another. "We are now a nation united. People from every quarter, whether educated or illiterate, are totally united."
The celebrations also came amid intense speculation that Pakistan is preparing to conduct further nuclear tests this weekend. According to US intelligence reports, spy satellites have detected another site in Pakistan where it's feared more nuclear devices have been placed. In recent statements and interviews both the Prime Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, and the Foreign Minister, Mr Gohar Ayub Khan, have refused to rule out the possibility of further tests.
"One cannot rule it out," said the foreign minister; "the prime minister has not said anything in his speech (to the nation on Thursday) in this regard."
The government also spelt out how it would enforce the state of emergency declared late on Thursday night, a few hours after the nuclear tests.
In his announcement on Thursday, President Rafiq Tarar said the state of emergency had been called in response to the threat posed to Pakistan by India.
Since India conducted nuclear tests two weeks ago, there have been increasingly aggressive statements from Delhi about the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir, which has been divided between the two countries since independence 50 years ago.
Pakistan and India have already fought two wars over the region and there are frequent exchanges of gunfire between the tens of thousands of troops that face each other across the Line of Control which divides the Indian and Pakistani halves.
The Hindu nationalist government in India recently announced a major offensive against Islamic extremism in Indian-administered Kashmir, which the government accuses Pakistan of sponsoring.
According to the Pakistan government, tensions reached boiling point earlier this week when it says intelligence reports indicated that India was planning to launch military strikes against targets around Islamabad.
One senior minister said it was "eye-ball to eye-ball" on Wednesday night. Given the imminent threat to national security, he said the state of emergency was vital to ensure that preparations could be made "to deter would-be aggressors".
But India has denied that it had any plans to attack and many independent analysts doubt Pakistan's claims. Instead observers say it may have had more to do with justifying to the international community the nuclear tests which were carried out the next day.
Subsequent announcements by the Pakistan government appear to back this up. The Finance Minister, Mr Sartaj Aziz, told journalists yesterday that the primary aim of the state of emergency was to enforce an economic austerity programme which the government is due to announce shortly in response to the sanctions being applied by the international community against Pakistan. "We have no intention of implementing the emergency in full," he said. "We will only apply financial measures. There will be no suspension of the individual rights of people."
Earlier it had been feared that the state of emergency would in effect mean a return to quasi-military rule with a clamp-down on the freedom of assembly and speech. But the government's main concern does seem to be countering the effects of sanctions which are expected to hit Pakistan hard. The economy is already extremely weak and highly dependent on massive foreign loans to keep it afloat. With foreign debts totalling more than $30 billion and a current account deficit of more than $4 billion, assistance from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank is essential to prevent it defaulting. But it's possible that under the sanctions now being imposed as a result of the nuclear tests, all these loans will be stopped and there is a real danger that the economy will collapse.
As a first step to try to prevent this, the government has announced that all foreign exchange accounts will be frozen. The prime minister has already warned of hard times ahead and called on everyone to play their part in helping the country get through the financial squeeze by cutting back on spending.
He himself has pledged to lead by example by moving out of the grandiose prime minister's secretariat building in Islamabad and handing it over to the state.
Amongst ordinary people support for the prime minister seems to be almost total.
Britain ordered its envoy back from Pakistan yesterday to mark its dismay at the country's nuclear tests. The Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, predicted penalties would be imposed on Pakistan in the form of delayed loans, reconsideration of special trade rules and scaled-down military co-operation.