(i) India successfully performed her first nuclear test at Pokharan in Rajasthan on 18th May, 1974 in consonance with the policy of using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and for self-sufficiency.
(ii) The reason why India took this decision was China’s nuclear capability and Pakistan’s desperate efforts to acquire nuclear weapons with China’s help.
(iii) Dr Homi Sethna, the chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission and Dr Raja Ramanna, Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre played a major role in conducting this nuclear test.
(iv) Prime Minister Indira Gandhi took the decision of carrying out a ‘nuclear explosion’. Pokharan was chosen on the basis of the required criteria for the location of the nuclear tests: far away from human settlement and no groundwater reserve.
