It was a Pakistani nuclear scientist, the now infamous AQ Khan, who shared every iota of nuclear knowledge he had with the whole wide world, including (allegedly) North Korea and Iran. Pakistani nuclear weapons, created in a moment of terror, are the focus of constant global attention.
In a ritual as well established as afternoon tea, the Pakistani establishment routinely has to come out and declare that their nukes are "safe".
In fact, Pakistan has the honour of being counted among those countries that the United States every so often ponders on whether or not they should go in and physically take the nuclear weapons for the safety of the world.
So in that sense, Pakistan is already a world nuclear supplier - just out of the back door.
But such realities aside, today Pakistan's Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz claimed that its credentials for NSG membership are "stronger than India" if the elite club agrees on uniform criteria for non-NPT states to join the group.
"If the group forms such a uniform criteria, then Pakistan has stronger credentials for NSG membership than India," he told Dawn News.
Pakistan has bright chances of getting a membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) on merit, he claimed.
"Our strategy was to apply after India did, after which we would have immediately followed. We have had our application in an advanced state of readiness for the past three months for this purpose," Aziz said.
"We cannot question them, but we repeatedly tell them that you (US) are a sovereign country and can maintain any level of relations with any country, but if you increase the strategic and conventional imbalance in South Asia, our problems will increase," the foreign affairs adviser said while referring to the US support for India's inclusion in NSG.
The US has been pushing for India's NSG membership while China has been reportedly backing Pakistan's bid to join the nuclear trading club.
India, though not a member, enjoys the benefits of membership under a 2008 exemption to NSG rules for its atomic cooperation deal with the US.
The NSG looks after critical issues relating to nuclear sector, and its members are allowed to trade in and export nuclear technology. The NSG works under the principle of unanimity and even one nation's vote against a country could scuttle its bid.