Pokhran-I (Smiling Buddha) 1974

Story hook

It is 8:05 AM, 18 May 1974, Buddha Purnima. Beneath the sands of Pokhran, Rajasthan, a 8-kilotonne plutonium device detonates 107 metres below ground. Dr Raja Ramanna, Dr Homi Sethna (Chairman AEC), Dr P.K. Iyengar and Dr Rajagopala Chidambaram huddle around seismographs at the Pokhran range. The crater rises into a dome of sand. Dr Ramanna picks up the phone to PM Indira Gandhi: "Buddha is smiling."

Within hours, the world learns of Smiling Buddha — Pokhran-I, India's first nuclear test. Indira calls it a "peaceful nuclear explosion" (PNE). The world is unconvinced. The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is born within weeks — 45 nations (today 48) controlling nuclear technology trade, created specifically because India weaponised plutonium from the Canadian CIRUS reactor (peaceful research reactor under Canada-India Reactor, US safeguards).

Cut to 11 May 1998, 3:45 PM, Pokhran. Three devices detonate near-simultaneously: a fission device (45 kt), a thermonuclear device (~43 kt claimed), a sub-kiloton fission. Two days later, 13 May, two more sub-kiloton devices fire. Operation Shakti — Pokhran-II — five tests in 72 hours. PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee announces: "India is now a nuclear-weapons state."

The world sanctions India — Glenn Amendment, Pressler Amendment invoked; aid frozen by US, Japan, Germany, Canada, EU. Pakistan tests Chagai-I (28 May 1998) + Chagai-II (30 May). Within 5 weeks, South Asia is overtly nuclear.

Ten years later, on 6 September 2008, the NSG grants India a unique waiver — the first ever — recognising India's unilateral testing moratorium + civil-military separation plan + IAEA-specific safeguards. India enters the nuclear mainstream without signing NPT or CTBT. Pokhran's risk had become Pokhran's legitimacy.

Why this matters for UPSC

Prelims: Dates (18 May 1974; 11/13 May 1998; 6 Sep 2008), scientists (Ramanna, Sethna, Chidambaram, Kalam, Sarabhai founding, Bhabha legacy), code names (Smiling Buddha, Shakti), NPT 1968, CTBT 1996, NSG 1974-75 founding, 123 Agreement 2008, Hyde Act 2006.

Mains GS-I/II/III: India's nuclear doctrine (No First Use); strategic autonomy vs international order; CIRUS controversy

• technology denial regime; export controls; SAARC strategic balance; Vajpayee's grand strategy.

Interview: Should India sign NPT today? Was Pokhran-I worth the 24-year isolation? Has No First Use survived 2024?