The Smiling Buddha

Though it could be seen as a part of the national security policy, it was scientific endeavour that led to India’s successful

detonation of a nuclear device. On May 18, 1974, India conducted its first nuclear test in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, at the army base near the village of Pokhran. Officially termed Pokhran I but code named ‘Smiling Buddha’, the exercise was an underground detonation. It was formally called a ‘peaceful nuclear explosion’. It was the first time that a confirmed nuclear test was done by a nation that was not one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

It is believed that Indira Gandhi authorised the development of nuclear weapon system, presumably in light of China slowly and steadily becoming a nuclear power. She was guided by the belief that it was in the interests of the stability and security of India if it was to develop independently of the nuclear superpowers. The nuclear device, which was of the implosion type and was said to resemble the American nuclear bomb called ‘Fat Man’, was developed under the guidance of Raja Ramanna who was then the Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). The project was overseen by the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, Homi Sethna. Some of the other scientists of renown involved in the projects were P.K. Iyengar, R. Chidambaram, Basanti Nagchaudhuri and Waman Dattatreya Patwardhan.

Though there was euphoria in many sections of the population, there was also a perception that the test was authorised by Indira Gandhi to divert attention from the unrest that was going on in the country.

International Reaction Though India called it a test for ‘peaceful purposes’, the rest of the world was not too happy about it. The Nuclear Suppliers Group was formed to check nuclear proliferation.

As the plutonium used in the test came from the CIRUS reactor supplied by Canada and the heavy water was supplied by the US, the two countries were unhappy. Canada suspended assistance for the two heavy water reactors then under construction.

Pakistan was furious, and cancelled the talks that were soon to take place for the normalisation of relations. Pakistan’s prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto declared that he would not be blackmailed by India and would not accept

India’s domination in the subcontinent. The Indian test, according to Pakistani opinion, pushed Pakistan into the nuclear field.