Operation Smiling Buddha

Pokhran-I Smiling Buddha
The Indian nuclear test site in Rajasthan is adjacent to its western neighboring country, Pakistan
Information
Country	India
Test site	Pokhran Test Range (IA)
Period	18 May 1974, 8:05 a.m. (IST)
Number of tests	1
Test type	Underground
Device type	Fission
Max. yield	8 kilotons of TNT (33 TJ)
Navigation
Previous test	None
Next test	Pokhran-II

Smiling Buddha (MEA designation: Pokhran-I) was the assigned code name of India's first successful nuclear bomb test on 18 May 1974. The bomb was detonated on the army base, Pokhran Test Range (PTR), in Rajasthan by the Indian Army under the supervision of several key Indian generals.

Pokhran-I was also the first confirmed nuclear weapons test by a nation outside the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Officially, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) claimed this test was a "peaceful nuclear explosion", but it was an accelerated nuclear program.

India started its own nuclear program in 1944 when Homi J. Bhabha founded the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. 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 test.

After Indian independence from the British Empire, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru authorized the development of a nuclear program headed by Homi Bhabha. The Atomic Energy Act of 1948 focused on peaceful development. India was heavily involved in the development of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but ultimately opted not to sign it.