Pakistan's nuclear weapons program was established in 1972 by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutte. Bhutte founded the program while he was Minister for fuel and Power and Natural Resources. He later became president and then prime minister of Pakistan. He initiated the program after Pakistan lost East Pakistan to India while they were at war. Bhutte met with physicists and engineers at Multan in January of 1972 to discuss the launch of the nuclear weapon program.