18th May was the date when India Conducted Its First Nuclear Test in 1974

India successfully detonated its first nuclear weapon in the desert of Pokhran, Rajasthan on 18th May, 1974. This peaceful test project was code named “Smiling Buddha”. The historic event made India the first nation outside the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to have nuclear capability.

At 8:05 AM that day, the Pokhran range witnessed a sudden bright flash followed by a thunderous boom. The ‘Smiling Buddha’ had successfully detonated, releasing an energy equivalent to approximately 15 kilotons of TNT. The world’s sixth nuclear power was born.

The test was conducted under strict secrecy. The ‘Smiling Buddha’ was designed and assembled by a team of Indian scientists and engineers led by Dr. Raja Ramanna, then Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. The project was personally overseen by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who gave the final go-ahead, recognising the strategic significance of India having its nuclear deterrent.

The operation, known as Pokhran-I nuclear test today, was conducted in extreme secrecy under the leadership of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. “Dr Ramanna, please go ahead. It will be good for the nation,” Indira Gandhi said on May 17, 1974. This was two years after she greenlighted the project during a visit to BARC on September 7, 1972.

A team of 75 scientists and engineers, led by Raja Ramanna, PK Iyengar, Rajagopala Chidambaram and others had worked on it from 1967 to 1974. The Ministry of External Affairs described the test as a “peaceful nuclear explosion”, as several countries raised concerns about the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

WHY WAS IT CALLED SMILING BUDDHA?

The operation’s codename, Smiling Buddha, was inspired by Gautama Buddha. Coincidentally, the test took place on Buddha Jayanti, the day celebrating the Buddha’s birth. Raja Ramanna, who was then the director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, sent a secret message after the testing to the Prime Minister saying, “The Buddha has finally smiled.”