Nuclear Dawn: 51 Years Since 'Smiling Buddha' Changed India's Global Standing

Fifty-one years ago, on May 18, 1974, India silently yet dramatically altered the global power balance when it successfully detonated its first nuclear device beneath the sun-scorched sands of Rajasthan's Pokhran. This historic achievement made India the first nation outside the five permanent UN Security Council members to demonstrate nuclear capability.

Codenamed "Smiling Buddha," the operation firmly established India's technological prowess, strategic independence, and national determination on the international stage.

The Pokhran-I test was executed under extraordinary secrecy during Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's leadership. Just one day before the test, she authorized the final step with the simple directive to Dr. Ramanna: "Please go ahead. It will be good for the nation." This followed her initial approval of the project during a BARC visit in September 1972.

A dedicated team of 75 scientists and engineers, under the guidance of Raja Ramanna, PK Iyengar, and Rajagopala Chidambaram, had worked meticulously on the project from 1967 to 1974. Their efforts culminated in success when scientist Pranab Rebatiranjan Dastidar pressed the firing button at 8:05 am on that fateful morning.

The operation's codename drew inspiration from Gautama Buddha, with the test coincidentally occurring on Buddha Jayanti. Following the successful detonation, Raja Ramanna sent a cryptic message to the Prime Minister stating, "The Buddha has finally smiled."

While India officially described the test as a "peaceful nuclear explosion," Raja Ramanna later clarified in a 1997 interview: "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."

The international community responded swiftly by establishing the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a coalition of 48 nuclear supplier countries formed to regulate nuclear technology exports.

India maintained nuclear restraint for 24 years before conducting five additional tests in May 1998 during Operation Shakti (Pokhran-II) under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. These tests, which included a thermonuclear device, firmly positioned India as the world's sixth declared nuclear power.

The 1974 test's legacy remains profound—it demonstrated India's scientific capabilities, established its strategic autonomy, and forever altered the nation's position in global affairs, effects that continue to resonate fifty-one years later.