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The program's feasibility proved more challenging than the nuclear weapons program due to inadequate funding and a lack of focus on [[Control system|control systems]] and [[aerodynamics]] education.<ref name="Stanford University Press, Khan, 2012" /> India, with existing knowledge based on Russian rockets, was already ahead in missile technology, developing its own independently.<ref name="Stanford University Press, Khan, 2012" /> Furthermore, the [[Missile Technology Control Regime]] (MTCR), formed in 1987, hindered Pakistan's efforts to acquire program components.<ref name="Stanford University Press, Khan, 2012" /><ref name="APH Publ. Corp.">{{cite book |last1=Chitkara |first1=M.G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LCaAQCnO3QQC&q=benazir+missile&pg=PA122 |title=Benazir – a profile |date=1996 |publisher=APH Publ. Corp. |isbn=8170247527 |___location=New Delhi |access-date=22 November 2014}}</ref>
The Ministry of Defense eventually took over the ''Hatf'' program, delegating it to its weapons laboratories and agencies to collaborate with SUPARCO.<ref name="Dawn newspapers, 1998">{{cite news |last1=Beg |first1=M.A. |date=6 April 1998 |title=Ghauri won't rock the region |url=http://dawn.com/ |access-date=21 November 2014 |work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]}}</ref> In 1989, India successfully test-fired its first variant of the [[Prithvi (missile)|''Prithvi'']] missile, which it had been developing independently since 1983.<ref name="Stanford University Press, Khan, 2012" /> That same year, the SUPARCO test-fired the [[Hatf-I|''Hatf'']], which Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto immediately declared a success. However, the U.S. military dismissed the results, considering the missile an "inaccurate battlefield missile." <ref name="Stanford University Press, Khan, 2012" />
Under Prime Minister [[Benazir Bhutto]], the ''Hatf'' program was aggressively pursued to address the missile gap with India.<ref name="APH Publ. Corp." /><ref name="Peter Lang">{{cite book |last1=Chakma |first1=Bhumitra |title=Strategic dynamics and nuclear weapons proliferation in South Asia : a historical analysis |date=2004 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=3039103822 |___location=Bern}}</ref> The Benazir Bhutto government negotiated engineering education and training on rockets with China and later North Korea.<ref name="Foreign Policy">{{cite web |last1=Collins |first1=Catherine |title=Tale of Two Bhuttos |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2007/11/18/a_tale_of_two_bhuttos |access-date=22 November 2014 |publisher=Foreign Policy}}</ref> Pakistani military officials documented that Pakistan made substantial cash payments to China and North Korea through its [[State Bank of Pakistan|State Bank]] to acquire practical knowledge in aerospace engineering, controls engineering, programming and space sciences.<ref name="Stanford University Press, Khan, 2012" /><ref name="Penguin India">{{cite book |last1=Hussain |first1=Zahid |title=Frontline Pakistan : the path to catastrophe and the killing of Benazir Bhutto |date=2008 |publisher=Penguin India |isbn=978-0143064794 |edition=New |___location=Delhi}}</ref>
Despite constraints and limitations, the ''Hatf'' program was made feasible, and former Prime Minister [[Benazir Bhutto]] is described as the "political architect of Pakistan's missile technology" by Emily MacFarquhar of the [[Alicia Patterson Foundation]].<ref name="Alicia Patterson Foundation">{{cite web |last1=MacFarquhar |first1=Emily |title=Benazir and the Bomb |url=http://aliciapatterson.org/stories/benazir-and-bomb |access-date=22 November 2014 |publisher=Alicia Patterson Foundation}}</ref> In 2014, former Prime Minister [[Yusuf Raza Gilani|Yousaf Raza Gillani]] acknowledged Benazir Bhutto's contribution, stating, "Benazir Bhutto gave this country the much-needed missile technology."<ref name="GEO TV">{{cite news |date=18 October 2014 |title=Aitzaz calls for introduction of fresh blood in PPP |url=http://www.geo.tv/article-162925-Aitzaz-calls-for-introduction-of-fresh-blood-in-PPP |access-date=22 November 2014 |publisher=GEO TV}}</ref>
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