India's First Nuclear Weapon Explosion May 18,1974

 

Smiling Buddha was the assigned code name of India's  First Nuclear Weapon Explosion on May 18,1974.

The device was detonated on the army base Rajasthan Pokhran Test Range by the Indian Army under the supervision of several key Indian army personnel.

Pokhran-I was also the first confirmed nuclear test by a nation outside the 5 Permanent Members of United Nations Security Council –the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, China, and France.


The test fell on the traditional anniversary of the Buddha’s enlightenment, and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi received the message “Buddha has smiled” from the exuberant test-site scientists after the detonation.