Every year since 1998, May 11 is observed as National Technology Day in India. The day is observed to celebrate and remember the historic nuclear tests by India in Pokhran. A dream that was formulated into a concrete programme by Homi Jehangir Bhaba in the 1950s was entirely fulfilled in 1988 by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and his team.
The then-Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, called a press conference on May 11, 1998, and stunned the world with this announcement.
“I have a brief announcement to make. Today, at 1545 hours, India conducted 3 underground nuclear tests in the Pokhran range. These tests conducted today were with a fission device, a low-yield device, and a thermonuclear device. The measured yields are in line with expected values. Measurements have also confirmed that there was no release of radioactivity into the atmosphere. These contained explosions like in the experiment conducted in May 1974. I warmly congratulate the scientists and engineers who have carried out the successful tests. Thank you very much indeed.”
Three nuclear devices were detonated simultaneously. Two additional tests took place on May 13 as well that proved to be fundamentally consequential for India’s regional as well as global relations, specifically with the United States.
Here is a look back to that day and everything that led to it:
India was forced to conduct the 1998 nuclear tests
India conducted its lone nuclear test in 1974 during the Indira Gandhi era, but after that single test, India took the path of what is dubbed as ‘non-weaponised deterrence’. But in the 1990s, pressure on India to test came from three specific dimensions.
The first dimension of pressure was from India’s neighbouring rival state, Pakistan and its already possessed intelligence of ready-made nuclear weapons. There were many reports at that time that showed China transferring these ready-made nuclear weapons to Pakistan to keep India in check. In addition to this, was US President George Bush’s refusal in 1990 to certify that Islamabad was trying to acquire nuclear weapons.
The second pressure dimension was from the US itself. Washington’s push to close the path of nuclear weapon fabrication by extending the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) indefinitely to other countries, made India rejig its nuclear dream.
The third pressure point was from specific efforts to ‘freeze, cap and roll back’ India and Pakistan’s nuclear weapons capability.
One more aspect was the return of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government into power in March 1998. The government immediately authorised the nuclear tests again. The same was even mentioned in the 1998 Election Manifesto of Bajpayee’s party to “exercise the option to induct nuclear weapons” besides the missile programme.
Playing hide-and-seek to pursue the nuclear dream
The preparation of India’s effort to pursue its nuclear dream goes back to March 20, 1998. The Department of Atomic Energy chairman, R. Chidambaram and the DRDO head APJ Abdul Kalam was called by the newly-elected PM of India. PM Vajpayee gave the green signal to conduct the tests.
On May 1 of the same year, nuclear devices were flown from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai to Jaisalmer Airport in Rajasthan. From Jaipur, 4 army trucks transported the devices and other equipment to a small city called Pokhran.
The 58th Engineer Regiment of the Indian Army was called for the task of maintaining the shafts in which nuclear devices, six in total, would be tested.
The commander of the 58th Engineer’s Regiment, Colonel Gopal Kaushik supervised the preparations and all the officers were ordered to maintain absolute secrecy.
The shafts were dug out and all the members involved were asked to perform the assignment discreetly. Even the DRDO head A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Chidambaram would wear army greens during their visit to Pokhran.
The army would return all the equipment used at night to its original place to give an impression to the ever-prying satellites that they were never moved.
The people involved in the tests also used code names to counter the CIA’s spying on communication lines. Some of the code words used then were: White House, whiskey and even Taj Mahal.
History made that led to international outrage
As soon as the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced the successful testing of three nuclear tests, the Western world was shocked and surprised.
The Clinton Administration condemned the tests and said it was “deeply disappointed” and subsequently slapped sanctions against India. US Senator Richard Shelby had then said that the CIA’s failure to identify that these tests were going to take place was “the biggest failure of our intelligence gathering agencies in the past ten years or more”.
Despite protests by international as well as national entities, Vajpayee stood firm on his decision to carry out the Pokhran II tests.
(With inputs from agencies)
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