Operation Smiling Buddha conducted on May 18, 1974

Key facts

• India detonated a nuclear device codenamed Smiling Buddha at the Pokhran test range in the Thar desert of Rajasthan on May 18, 1974.
• The nuclear programme and test involved key figures including Homi Jehangir Bhabha, Raja Ramanna (chief architect), Homi Sethna, P. K. Iyengar, R Chidambaram, PR Roy, and Pranab Dastidar.
• The operation was carried out by scientists from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) with assistance from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Army.
• Officially termed a Peaceful Nuclear Explosion (PNE), the device was an implosion-type plutonium bomb using material from the CIRUS reactor at Trombay.
• India became the first country outside the five permanent members of the United Nations (UN) Security Council to conduct a confirmed nuclear test, which subsequently led to the formation of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).