Operation Smiling Buddha

2022-01-11T13:59:42Z

2A00:23C8:8E90:AE00:8814:F248:F713:2495: /* Development teams and sites */Unnecessary and counter to MoS

{{short description|India's first successful nuclear test}}
{{for|the religious figure known as the Laughing Buddha|Budai}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{use Indian English|date=May 2014}}
{{Infobox nuclear weapons test
|name =Pokhran-I Smiling Buddha
|country =[[India]]
|test_site =[[Pokhran|Pokhran Test Range]] ([[Indian Army|IA]])
|coordinates = {{coord|27.0788|71.7224|format=dms|type:event_region:IN|display=inline,title}}
|period =18 May 1974, 8:05 a.m. ([[Indian Standard Time|IST]])
|number_of_tests =1
|test_type =[[Underground nuclear weapons testing|Underground shaft]]
|device_type =[[Nuclear weapon#Fission weapons|Fission]]
|max_yield ={{convert|12|ktonTNT|lk=in}}
|next_test =[[Pokhran-II]]
}}
{{Indira Gandhi series}}
'''Operation Smiling Buddha'''<ref group = "lower-alpha">This test has many code names. Civilian scientists called it "Operation Smiling Buddha" and the [[Indian Army]] referred to it as ''Operation Happy Krishna''. According to [[Military Intelligence Corps (United States Army)|United States Military Intelligence]], ''Operation Happy Krishna'' was the code name for the [[Indian Army]]'s construction of the underground site in which the tests were conducted. The [[Ministry of External Affairs (India)|Ministry of External Affairs]] designated the test as ''Pokhran-I''.</ref> ([[Ministry of External Affairs (India)|MEA]] designation: '''Pokhran-I''') was the assigned code name of [[India]]'s first successful [[nuclear weapon|nuclear bomb]] [[Nuclear weapons testing|test]] on 18 May 1974.<ref name="Nuclear files archives">{{cite web|url=http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/timeline/timeline_page.php?year=1974|title=1974 Nuclear files|last=FIles|work=Nuclear Age Peace Foundation|publisher=Nuclear files archives|access-date=14 January 2013}}</ref> The bomb was detonated on the [[:Category:Indian Army bases|army base]] [[Pokhran#Pokhran Test Range|Pokhran Test Range]] (PTR), in [[Rajasthan]], by the [[Indian Army]] under the supervision of several key [[:Category:Indian generals|Indian generals]].<ref name= "Smiling Buddha">{{cite web| url= http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/India/IndiaSmiling.html| work = India's Nuclear Weapons Program | title = Smiling Buddha, 1974|publisher=Nuclear Weapon Archive}}</ref>

''Pokhran-I'' was also the first confirmed nuclear weapons test by a nation outside the [[Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council|five permanent members]] of the [[United Nations Security Council]].<ref name="Nuclear Suppliers Group">{{cite web|last=NSG|title=History of the NSG|url=http://www.nuclearsuppliersgroup.org/Leng/01-history.htm|work=Nuclear Suppliers Group|publisher=Nuclear Suppliers Group|access-date=14 January 2013}}</ref> Officially, the Indian [[Ministry of External Affairs (India)|Ministry of External Affairs]] (MEA) characterised this test as a "[[peaceful nuclear explosion]]". [[Indira Gandhi]], the then [[Prime Minister of India]] saw a massive rise in popularity following this test. After this, a series of nuclear tests were carried out in 1998 under the name [[Pokhran-II]].

==History==

===Early origins, 1944–1960s===

India started its own nuclear programme in 1944 when [[Homi Jehangir Bhabha]] founded the [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]].<ref name= "http://nuclearweaponarchive.org" /> Physicist [[Raja Ramanna]] played an essential role in nuclear weapons technology research; he expanded and supervised scientific research on nuclear weapons and was the first directing officer of the small team of scientists that supervised and carried out the [[nuclear testing|test]].<ref name = "http://nuclearweaponarchive.org">{{cite web|last= Sublette|first= Carey|title= Origins of Indian nuclear program | url = http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/India/IndiaOrigin.html| work = Nuclear weapon Archive | access-date = 13 November 2011}}</ref>

After [[Indian independence movement|Indian independence]] from the [[British Empire]], [[Indian Prime Minister]] [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] authorised the development of a [[India and weapons of mass destruction|nuclear programme]] headed by [[Homi_J._Bhabha|Homi Bhabha]]. The ''Atomic Energy Act'' of 1948 focused on peaceful development.<ref name="http://nuclearweaponarchive.org"/> India was heavily involved in the development of the [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]], but ultimately opted not to sign it.<ref name=prolifimpact>{{cite book|last=Perkovich|first=George|title=India's nuclear bomb: the impact on global proliferation|year=2002|publisher=University of California Press|isbn= 978-0-520-23210-5}}{{page number|date=May 2021}}</ref>{{page number|date=May 2021}}
{{quote |text=We must develop this atomic energy quite apart from war – indeed I think we must develop it for the purpose of using it for peaceful purposes. ... Of course, if we are compelled as a nation to use it for other purposes, possibly no pious sentiments of any of us will stop the nation from using it that way.|sign = Jawaharlal Nehru, First Prime Minister of India|source=<ref name="http://nuclearweaponarchive.org"/>}}

In 1954, Homi Jehangir Bhabha steered the nuclear programme in the direction of weapons design and production. Two important infrastructure projects were commissioned. The first project established [[Bhabha Atomic Research Centre|Trombay Atomic Energy Establishment]] at [[Mumbai]]. The other one created a governmental secretariat, [[Department of Atomic Energy (India)|Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)]], of which Bhabha was the first secretary. From 1954 to 1959, the nuclear programme grew swiftly. By 1958, the DAE had one-third of the [[Indian Armed Forces#Budget|defence budget]] for research purposes.<ref name = "http://nuclearweaponarchive.org" /> In 1954, India reached a verbal understanding with [[Canada]] and the [[United States]] under the [[Atoms for Peace]] programme; Canada and the United States ultimately agreed to provide and establish the [[CIRUS reactor|CIRUS]] research reactor also at Trombay. The acquisition of CIRUS was a watershed event in [[nuclear proliferation]] with the understanding between India and the United States that the reactor would be used for peaceful purposes only.<ref name= "http://nuclearweaponarchive.org" /> CIRUS was an ideal facility to develop a [[plutonium]] device, and therefore Nehru refused to accept [[nuclear fuel]] from Canada and started the programme to develop an indigenous [[nuclear fuel cycle]].<ref name="http://nuclearweaponarchive.org"/>

In July 1958, Nehru authorised "Project Phoenix" to build a reprocessing plant with a capacity of 20 tons of fuel a year – a size to match the production capacity of CIRUS.<ref name = "http://nuclearweaponarchive.org"/> The plant used the [[PUREX|PUREX process]] and was designed by the [[Vitro Corporation|Vitro Corporation of America]].<ref name = "http://nuclearweaponarchive.org"/> Construction of the plutonium plant began at Trombay on 27 March 1961, and it was commissioned in mid-1964.<ref name = "http://nuclearweaponarchive.org"/>

The nuclear programme continued to mature, and by 1960, Nehru made the critical decision to move the programme into production.<ref name = "http://nuclearweaponarchive.org"/> At about the same time, Nehru held discussions with the American firm [[Westinghouse Electric]] to construct India's first [[Tarapur Atomic Power Station|nuclear power plant]] in [[Tarapur, Maharashtra]].<ref name = "http://nuclearweaponarchive.org"/> [[Kenneth Nichols]], a [[United States Army|US Army]] engineer, recalls from a meeting with Nehru, "it was that time when Nehru turned to Bhabha and asked Bhabha for the timeline of the development of a nuclear weapon".{{cn|date=May 2021}} Bhabha estimated he would need about a year to accomplish the task.<ref name = "http://nuclearweaponarchive.org"/>

By 1962, the nuclear programme was still developing, but things had slowed down. Nehru was distracted by the [[Sino-Indian War]], during which India lost territory to China.<ref name= "http://nuclearweaponarchive.org"/> Nehru turned to the Soviet Union for help, but the Soviet Union was preoccupied with the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]].<ref name = "http://nuclearweaponarchive.org"/> The [[Soviet Politburo]] turned down Nehru's request for arms and continued backing the Chinese.<ref name="http://nuclearweaponarchive.org"/> India concluded that the Soviet Union was an unreliable ally, and this conclusion strengthened India's determination to create a nuclear deterrent.<ref name = "http://nuclearweaponarchive.org" /> Design work began in 1965 under Bhabha and proceeded under [[Raja Ramanna]] who took over the programme after the Bhabha's death.<ref name = "http://nuclearweaponarchive.org"/>

===Weapons development, 1960–1972===

Bhabha was now aggressively lobbying for nuclear weapons and made several speeches on Indian radio.<ref name="India's Nuclear Weapons Program">{{cite web|last=et. al 30 March 2001|title=On to Weapons Development, 1960–67|url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/India/IndiaWDevelop.html|work=India's Nuclear Weapons Program|publisher=India's Nuclear Weapons Program|access-date=14 January 2013|date=30 March 2001}}</ref> In 1964, Bhabha told the Indian public via radio that "such nuclear weapons are remarkably cheap" and supported his arguments by referring to the economic cost of the American nuclear testing programme ''[[Project Plowshare]]''.<ref name="India's Nuclear Weapons Program"/> Bhabha stated to the politicians that a 10 kt device would cost around $350,000, and $600,000 for a 2 mt.<ref name="India's Nuclear Weapons Program"/> From this, he estimated that "a stockpile" of around 50 atomic bombs would cost under $21 million and a stockpile of 50 two-megaton hydrogen bombs would cost around $31.5 million."<ref name="India's Nuclear Weapons Program"/> Bhabha did not realise, however, that the U.S. ''Plowshare'' cost-figures were produced by a vast industrial complex costing tens of billions of dollars, which had already manufactured nuclear weapons numbering in the tens of thousands.<ref name="India's Nuclear Weapons Program"/> The delivery systems for nuclear weapons typically cost several times as much as the weapons themselves.<ref name="India's Nuclear Weapons Program"/>

The nuclear programme was partially slowed when [[Lal Bahadur Shastri]] became the prime minister.<ref name="Shivanand Kanavi"/> Shastri faced the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]]. He appointed physicist [[Vikram Sarabhai]] as the head of the nuclear programme but, because of his non-violent [[Gandhian]] beliefs, Sarabhai directed it toward peaceful purposes rather than military development.<ref name="Shivanand Kanavi">{{cite web|last=Kanavi|first=Shivanand|title=How Indian PMs reacted to nuclear bombs|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-an-interview-with-k-subrahmanyam/20110210.htm|publisher=Shivanand Kanavi|access-date=13 November 2011}}</ref>

In 1967, [[Indira Gandhi]] became the prime minister and work on the nuclear programme resumed with renewed vigour.<ref name="http://nuclearweaponarchive.org"/> [[Homi Sethna]], a chemical engineer, played a significant role in the development of weapon-grade plutonium, while Ramanna designed and manufactured the entire nuclear device.<ref name="Shivanand Kanavi"/> India's first nuclear bomb project did not employ more than 75 scientists because of its sensitivity.<ref name="Shivanand Kanavi"/> The weapons programme was now directed towards the production of plutonium rather than uranium.<ref name="India's First Bomb, 1967-1974">{{cite web|title=India's First Bomb, 1967–74|url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/India/IndiaFirstBomb.html|publisher=India's First Bomb, 1967–74|access-date=14 January 2013}}</ref>

In 1968–69, [[P. K. Iyengar]] visited the [[Soviet Union]] with three colleagues and toured the nuclear research facilities at [[Dubna]], Russia.<ref name="India's First Bomb, 1967-1974"/> During his visit, Iyengar was impressed by the plutonium-fueled pulsed fast reactor.<ref name="India's First Bomb, 1967-1974"/> Upon his return to India, Iyengar set about developing plutonium reactors approved by the Indian political leadership in January 1969.<ref name="India's First Bomb, 1967-1974"/> The secret plutonium plant was known as ''Purnima'',<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.nti.org/facilities/861/|title = NTI.org and [1] Andrew Koch, "Selected Indian Nuclear Facilities," Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), 1999; http://cns.miis.edu; [2] Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC), www.barc.ernet.in; [3] George Perkovich, India's Nuclear Bomb: the impact on Global Proliferation (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999), pp. 149–150; [4] 2000 World Nuclear Industry Handbook (Wilmington, UK: Nuclear Engineering International, 2000), p. 198.|date = 1 Sep 2003|access-date = 8 Sep 2014|website = NTI Building a Safer World|publisher = NTI|last = N/A|first = N/A}}</ref> and construction began in March 1969. The plant's leadership included [[P. K. Iyengar|Iyengar]], [[Raja Ramanna|Ramanna]], [[Homi Sethna]], and [[Vikram Sarabhai|Sarabhai]]. Sarabhai's presence indicates that, with or without formal approval, the work on nuclear weapons at Trombay had already commenced.<ref name="India's First Bomb, 1967-1974"/>

===Secrecy and test preparations, 1972–1974===
In December 1971, during the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971|Indo-Pakistani War]], the U.S. government sent a [[carrier battle group]] led by the {{ship|USS|Enterprise|CVN-65}} into the [[Bay of Bengal]] in an attempt to intimidate India. The Soviet Union responded by sending a submarine armed with nuclear missiles from Vladivostok to trail the US task force. The Soviet response demonstrated the [[Deterrence theory|deterrent value]] and significance of nuclear weapons and [[ballistic missile]] submarines to Indira Gandhi.<ref name=idr-arihant>{{cite news|url=http://www.indiandefencereview.com/2010/02/arihant-the-annihilator.html|title=Arihant: the annihilator|publisher=Indian Defence Review|date=25 October 2010|access-date=8 January 2012}}</ref> India gained the military and political initiative over Pakistan after acceding to the [[Instrument of Surrender (1971)|treaty]] that [[Bangladesh Liberation War|divided Pakistan and led to the creation of Bangladesh]].<ref name="India's First Bomb, 1967-1974"/>

On 7 September 1972, near the peak of her post-war popularity, Indira Gandhi authorised the [[Bhabha Atomic Research Centre]] (BARC) to manufacture a nuclear device and prepare it for a test.<ref name=prolifimpact />{{page number|date=May 2021}} Although the [[Indian Army]] was not fully involved in the nuclear testing, the army's highest command was kept fully informed of the test preparations.<ref name="India's First Bomb, 1967-1974"/> The preparations were carried out under the watchful eyes of the Indian political leadership, with civilian scientists assisting the Indian Army.<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/>

The device was formally called the [[Peaceful nuclear explosions|"Peaceful Nuclear Explosive"]], but it was usually referred to as the ''Smiling Buddha''.<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/> The device was detonated on 18 May 1974, [[Buddha Jayanti]] (a festival day in India marking the birth of [[Gautama Buddha]]).<ref name="Pahuja">{{cite book | first =Om Parkash | last = Pahuja|title=India: A Nuclear Weapon State|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=GiI_Yt7SOA8C&pg=PT63 |access-date=29 June 2012|publisher=Prabhat Prakashan|isbn= 978-81-87100-69-0 | pages =63–| year = 2001}}</ref> Indira Gandhi maintained tight control of all aspects of the preparations of the ''Smiling Buddha'' test, which was conducted in extreme secrecy; besides Gandhi, only advisers [[Parmeshwar Narayan Haksar|Parmeshwar Haksar]] and [[Durga Prasad Dhar|Durga Dhar]] were kept informed.<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/> Scholar [[Raj Chengappa]] asserts the Indian [[Defence Minister of India|Defence Minister]] [[Jagjivan Ram]] was not provided with any knowledge of this test and came to learn of it only after it was conducted.<ref name="Harper Collins Publishers, India">{{cite book|last=Chengappa|first=Raj|title=Weapons of peace : the secret story of India's quest to be a nuclear power|year=2000|publisher=Harper Collins Publishers, India|location=New Delhi|isbn=81-7223-330-2}}</ref>{{page number|date=May 2021}} [[Swaran Singh]], the Minister of External Affairs, was given only a 48 hours advance notice.<ref name="Univ. of California Press">{{cite book|last=Perkovich|first=George|title=India's nuclear bomb : the impact on global proliferation|year=1999|publisher=Univ. of California Press|location=Berkeley [u.a.]|isbn=0-520-21772-1|edition=[Online-Ausg.].|url=https://archive.org/details/indiasnuclearbom00geor}}</ref>{{page number|date=May 2021}} The Indira Gandhi administration employed no more than 75 civilian scientists, while General [[Gopal Gurunath Bewoor|G. G. Bewoor]], [[Chief of the Army Staff (India)|Indian army chief]], and the commander of [[Western Command (India)|Indian Western Command]] were the only military commanders kept informed.<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/>

===Development teams and sites===

The head of this entire nuclear bomb project was the director of the [[Bhabha Atomic Research Centre|BARC]], [[Raja Ramanna]]. In later years, his role in the [[Indian nuclear programme|nuclear programme]] would be more deeply integrated as he remained head of the nuclear programme most of his life. The designer and creator of the bomb was [[P. K. Iyengar]], who was the second in command of this project. Iyengar's work was further assisted by the chief metallurgist, [[Rajagopala Chidambaram|R. Chidambaram]], and by [[Nagapattinam Sambasiva Venkatesan]] of the [[Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory]], who developed and manufactured the high explosive implosion system. The explosive materials and the detonation system were developed by [[Waman Dattatreya Patwardhan]] of the [[High Energy Materials Research Laboratory]].

The overall project was supervised by [[Chemical engineering|chemical engineer]] [[Homi N. Sethna|Homi Sethna]], Chairman of the [[Atomic Energy Commission of India]]. Chidambaram, who would later coordinate work on the [[Pokhran-II]] tests, began work on the [[equation of state]] of plutonium in late 1967 or early 1968. To preserve secrecy, the project employed no more than 75 scientists and engineers from 1967 to 1974.<ref name= prolifimpact />{{page number|date=May 2021}}<ref>{{cite book |last = Richelson |first = Jefferey T |author-link = Jeffrey T. Richelson |title = Spying on the Bomb: American Nuclear Intelligence from Nazi Germany to Iran and North Korea |date = March 1999 |publisher = WW Norton |page = [https://archive.org/details/spyingonbombamer00rich/page/233 233] |isbn = 978-0-393-05383-8 |url = https://archive.org/details/spyingonbombamer00rich/page/233 }}</ref> [[Abdul Kalam]] also arrived at the test site as the representative of the [[Defence Research and Development Organisation|DRDO]].

A. K. Ganguly, of the BARC, was the "Test" project chief of health and safety, as well as, chief of post "Test" scientific investigations programme.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Citation|first=Investiture ceremony|date=29 March 1975|title=GOI|journal=Investiture Ceremony|pages=35}}</ref> As early as 1956, Ganguly was selected by Homi J. Bhabha, from his academic perch, at the University of Notre Dame, USA, where he had originated the Ganguly-Magee theory in Radiation Chemistry. During Ganguly's career in the BARC, Vikram A. Sarabhai selected him to lead the process of formation of the Ministry of Environment.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Anil Kumar Ganguly|first=The Evolution of Health Physics Science in India|date=1 January 2018|title=Compendium of Memoirs|journal=IARP, by Dr. M. R. Iyer|pages=Pages 4 and 6}}</ref>

The device was of the [[Nuclear weapon design#Implosion-type weapon|implosion-type]] design and had a close resemblance to ''[[Fat Man]]'', the American nuclear bomb [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki#Bombing of Nagasaki|detonated over Nagasaki in 1945]].<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/> The implosion system was assembled at the [[Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory]] (TBRL) of the [[Defence Research and Development Organisation|DRDO]] in Chandigarh.<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/> The detonation system was developed at the [[High Energy Materials Research Laboratory]] (HEMRL) of the [[Defence Research and Development Organisation|DRDO]] in [[Pune]], [[Maharashtra State]].<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/> The 6 kg of [[plutonium]] came from the [[CIRUS reactor]] at BARC.<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/> The neutron initiator was of the [[polonium]]–[[beryllium]] type and code-named ''Flower''. [[Dr. V. K. Iya|V.K. Iya]] of [[Bhabha Atomic Research Centre|BARC]] was on the team<ref>{{cite web |url=https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/7823/7/07_chapter%203.pdf |title=POKHRAN-I AND POKHRAN-II |website=Information and Library Network, [[University Grants Commission (India)|University Grants Commission]], Govt. of India}}</ref>{{page number|date=May 2021}} which developed the neutron initiator. The entire nuclear bomb was engineered and finally assembled by Indian engineers at [[Trombay]] before transportation to the test site.<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/>

==Nuclear weapon design==

===Cross-section===

The fully assembled device had a hexagonal cross section, 1.25 metres in diameter, and weighed 1400 kg.<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/> The device was mounted on a hexagonal metal tripod, and was transported to the shaft on rails which the army kept covered with sand.<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/> The device was detonated when Pranab R. Dastidar pushed the firing button at 8.05 a.m.; it was in a shaft 107 m under the army [[Pokhran]] test range in the [[Thar Desert]], [[Rajasthan]].<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/>

===Controversy regarding the yield===

The [[Nuclear weapon yield|nuclear yield]] of this test still remains controversial, with unclear data provided by Indian sources, although Indian politicians have given the country's press a range from 2 [[Kiloton|kt]] to 20 kt.<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/> The official yield was initially set at 12 kt; post-[[Operation Shakti]] claims have raised it to 13 kt.<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/> Independent seismic data from outside and analysis of the crater features indicate a lower figure.<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/> Analysts usually estimate the yield at 4 to 6 kt, using conventional seismic magnitude-to-yield conversion formulas. In recent years, both [[Homi Sethna]] and P. K. Iyengar have conceded the official yield to be an exaggeration.<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/>

Iyengar has variously stated that the yield was 8–10 kt, that the device was designed to yield 10 kt, and that the yield was 8 kt "exactly as predicted". Although seismic scaling laws lead to an estimated yield range between 3.2 kt and 21 kt,<ref name="nuclearweaponarchive.org">{{Cite web | url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/India/IndiaRealYields.html |title = What Are the Real Yields of India's Tests?}}</ref> an analysis of hard rock cratering effects suggests a narrow range of around 8 kt for the yield,<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/> which is within the uncertainties of the seismic yield estimate.<ref name="nuclearweaponarchive.org"/>

==Aftermath==

===Domestic reaction===
Indian [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] Indira Gandhi had already gained much popularity after her successful [[Instrument of Surrender (1971)|military campaign]] against Pakistan in the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971|1971 war]].<ref name="Reaction and Long Pause">{{cite web|title=Reaction and Long Pause|url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/India/IndiaPause.html|publisher=Reaction and Long Pause|access-date=15 January 2013}}</ref> The test caused an immediate revival of Indira Gandhi's popularity, which had flagged considerably from its heights after the 1971 war. The overall popularity and image of the [[Indian Congress party|Congress Party]] was enhanced and the Congress Party was well received in the [[Indian Parliament]].<ref name="Reaction and Long Pause"/> In 1975, [[Homi Sethna]], a chemical engineer and the chairman of the [[Atomic Energy Commission of India|Indian Atomic Energy Commission]] (AECI), [[Raja Ramanna]] of BARC, and [[Basanti Dulal Nagchaudhuri|Basanti Nagchaudhuri]] of DRDO, all were honoured with the ''[[Padma Vibhushan]]'', India's second highest civilian award.<ref name="Reaction and Long Pause"/> Five other project members received the ''[[Padma Shri]]'', India's fourth highest civilian award.<ref name="Reaction and Long Pause"/> India consistently maintained that this was a peaceful nuclear bomb test and that it had no intentions of militarising its nuclear programme. However, according to independent monitors, this test was part of an accelerated [[Indian nuclear programme]].<ref name="Nuclear files archives"/>
In 1997 Raja Ramanna, speaking to the ''[[Press Trust of India]]'', maintained:

{{Quotation|The Pokhran test was a bomb, I can tell you now.... An explosion is an explosion, a gun is a gun, whether you shoot at someone or shoot at the ground.... I just want to make clear that the test was not all that peaceful.|Raja Ramanna 1997, giving interview to Press Trust of India in 1997<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/>}}

===International reaction===
{{Main|Nuclear Suppliers Group}}

While India continued to state that the test was for peaceful purposes, it encountered opposition from many quarters. The [[Nuclear Suppliers Group]] (NSG) was formed in reaction to the Indian tests to check international nuclear proliferation.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.nuclearsuppliersgroup.org/Leng/01-history.htm |title = History |publisher=Nuclear Suppliers Group |access-date= 4 December 2011}}</ref> The NSG decided in 1992 to require full-scope [[International Atomic Energy Agency|IAEA]] safeguards for any new nuclear export deals,<ref>{{cite web | title = Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) | url = http://www.nti.org/e_research/official_docs/inventory/pdfs/nsg.pdf | publisher = Nuclear Threat Initiative | access-date = 4 December 2011 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030503120417/http://nti.org/e_research/official_docs/inventory/pdfs/nsg.pdf | archive-date = 3 May 2003 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> which effectively ruled out nuclear exports to India, but in 2008 it waived this restriction on nuclear trade with India as part of the [[Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement]].<ref>{{cite news | title=Nuclear Deal: A chronology of key developments|url= http://www.indianexpress.com/news/nuclear-deal-a-chronology-of-key-developmen/368607/ |access-date = 5 September 2011| newspaper = The Indian Express | date = 2 October 2008}}</ref>

====Pakistan====

Pakistan did not view the test as a "peaceful nuclear explosion", and cancelled talks scheduled for 10 June on normalisation of relations.<ref name = prolifimpact />{{page number|date=May 2021}} Pakistan's [[Prime Minister of Pakistan|Prime Minister]] [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]] vowed in June 1974 that he would never succumb to "nuclear blackmail" or accept "Indian hegemony or domination over the [[Indian subcontinent|subcontinent]]".<ref>{{Citation | publisher = Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) and Pakistan Television (PTV) | title = Prime minister Secretariat Press Release | quote = India's so-called Peaceful Nuclear Explosion (PNE) is tested and designed to intimidate and establish "Indian hegemony in the subcontinent", most particularly Pakistan... | first = Zulfikar Ali | last = Bhutto | date = 18 May 1974 | url = http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Pakistan/Nuclear/chronology_1974.html | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110918040826/http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Pakistan/Nuclear/chronology_1974.html | archive-date = 18 September 2011 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> The chairman of the [[Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission]], [[Munir Ahmed Khan]], said that the test would force Pakistan to test [[Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction|its own nuclear bomb]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}} Pakistan's leading [[Nuclear physics|nuclear physicist]], [[Pervez Hoodbhoy]], stated in 2011 that he believed the test "pushed [Pakistan] further into the nuclear arena".<ref>{{Cite web | last = Hoodbhoy | first =Pervez Amerali, PhD (Nuclear Physics) | author-link =Pervaiz Hoodbhoy | title =Pakistan's nuclear bayonet | publisher = [[The Herald (Pakistan)|The Herald]] | date =23 January 2011 | url = http://www.dawn.com/2011/02/16/herald-exclusive-pakistans-nuclear-bayonet.html | access-date =9 September 2011}}</ref>

====Canada and United States====
The plutonium used in the test was created in the [[CIRUS reactor]] supplied by Canada and using [[heavy water]] supplied by the United States. Both countries reacted negatively, especially in light of then ongoing negotiations on the [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]] and the economic aid both countries had provided to India.<ref name= prolifimpact />{{page number|date=May 2021}}<ref>{{cite news| title= Ripples in the nuclear pond| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=x6ZSAAAAIBAJ&pg=7191%2C5606996 |access-date=5 September 2011 |newspaper= The Deseret News|date=22 May 1974}}</ref> Canada concluded that the test violated a 1971 understanding between the two states, and froze nuclear energy assistance for the two heavy water reactors then under construction.<ref name=prolifimpact />{{page number|date=May 2021}} The United States concluded that the test did not violate any agreement and proceeded with a June 1974 shipment of enriched uranium for the [[Tarapur Atomic Power Station|Tarapur reactor]].<ref name=prolifimpact />{{page number|date=May 2021}}

====France====
France sent a congratulatory message to India but later withdrew it.<ref name="frontline_anderson">[http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl1713/17130760.htm]{{Citation|last=Anderson|first=Robert|title=Who is smiling now?|date=24 June – 7 July 2000|url=http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl1713/17130760.htm|newspaper=[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]], [[The Hindu]]|volume=17|issue=13|access-date=12 March 2012}}</ref> 

==Subsequent nuclear explosions==
Despite many proposals, India did not carry out further nuclear tests until 1998. After the [[1998 Indian general election|1998 general elections]], Operation Shakti (also known as [[Pokhran-II]]) was carried out at the Pokhran test site, using technology designed and built over the preceding two decades.<ref name =prolifimpact /><ref>{{cite book|last1 =Reed|first1 = Thomas C |title= The nuclear express: a political history of the bomb and its proliferation|year=2009|publisher=Zenith|isbn = 978-0-7603-3502-4 | first2 = Danny B | last2 = Stillman}}</ref>{{page number|date=May 2021}}

==See also==
* [[India and weapons of mass destruction]]
* [[History of nuclear weapons]]
* [[List of countries with nuclear weapons]]
* [[Pokhran-II]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist | group = "lower-alpha"}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Smiling Buddha|Scientists=A. K. Ganguly}}

[[Category:Explosions in 1974]]
[[Category:1974 in India]]
[[Category:1974 in military history]]
[[Category:Indian nuclear weapons testing]]
[[Category:Political history of India]]
[[Category:Underground nuclear weapons testing]]
[[Category:Indira Gandhi administration]]
[[Category:Code names]]
[[Category:Pokaran]]
[[Category:Nuclear history of India]]
[[Category:Nuclear proliferation]]
[[Category:Military history of India]]
[[Category:Politics of India]]
[[Category:A. P. J. Abdul Kalam]]
[[Category:May 1974 events in Asia]]
[[Category:History of the Indian Army]]

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