Updated May 11th, 2018 at 13:26 IST
On 20th Anniversary of the Pokhran - II nuclear tests, forces, ministers and Bollywood remind us why we should be very proud
It was this day all those years ago when India successfully conducted the first three of five nuclear tests at the Indian Army's Pokhran test range in Rajasthan. As part of Operation Shakti, one fusion and two fission bombs were detonated. Two more fission bombs followed two days later after which then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee declared India a full-fledged nuclear state.
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India on Friday is celebrating the 20th anniversary of one of its most significant events in the country's military-scientific history -- the Pokhran - II nuclear tests!
It was this day all those years ago when India successfully conducted the first three of five nuclear tests at the Indian Army's Pokhran test range in Rajasthan. As part of Operation Shakti, one fusion and two fission bombs were detonated. Two more fission bombs followed two days later after which then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee declared India a full-fledged nuclear state.
The period both before and after was a showcase of the resolve of the nation. Ahead of the tests, preparations had to be made in extreme secrecy to keep the operation from being detected by US spy satellites, while after it, debilitating sanctions were imposed on India by a number of countries and the country came under pressure to sign the CTBT (Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty). A belligerent Pakistan carried out its own nuclear tests a short while later escalating matters and threatening the region.
Since 1999, May 11 is commemorated as National Technology Day to mark India's scientific prowess and technological advancements.
This year, on the 20th anniversary, a number of influential persons and entities, notably the security forces, have recalled the significance of Operation Shakti:
(Clockwise: Rajagopala Chidambaram, APJ Abdul Kalam, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, architects of Pokhran - II)
A year earlier, PM Modi had written along the same lines:
"After the first series of tests the world community placed sanctions on India. On 13th May 1998, Atalji again called for tests, thus showing that he was made of a different mettle. If we had had a weak PM, he or she would have got scared on the same day. But Atal ji was different. He did not get scared."
Lauding the role the people of Pokhran played by keeping silent during the nuclear tests, Modi had said, "People of Pokhran must be lauded for maintaining silence during entire duration when the tests were planned and conducted. They placed interest of the nation above everything else."
A new generation is also going to get to know the story of the achievement in great detail. John Abraham tells us why:
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Published May 11th, 2018 at 13:26 IST