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Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday extended congratulatory greetings on the 51st anniversary of India's first nuclear test codenamed "Smiling Buddha" near Pokhran in Rajasthan. He credited the leadership of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for the success of the operation despite many adversities.
"51 years ago, India conducted its first Nuclear Test, code named "Smiling Buddha" and became the 6th nation in the world to carry out such tests. Our scientists and researchers achieved this extraordinary feat through their ingenuity and dedication. We are deeply grateful to them," Kharge posted on X. "Indira Gandhi demonstrated exemplary and dynamic leadership, displaying remarkable courage even in the face of adversity, a legacy that endures," the Congress leader said. On May 18, 1974, India became the sixth country to carry out its first nuclear test, shocking the entire world. A nuclear device was detonated in Rajasthan, near Pokhran, and the operation was code-named Smiling Buddha. The work for the nuclear test was approved by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1972, after which a team of scientists and other experts began working on the same at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). The Pokhran-I test was conducted underground in the remote Rajasthan desert, earning it the name of "peaceful explosion" since it was carried out for non-military purposes. India became the first nation to conduct a nuclear test and the sixth country in line to do so, apart from the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). A team of 75 people, including scientists and engineers, worked on designing and developing the nuclear bomb. Follow this, India conducted its second nuclear test, known as Pokhran-II or Operation Shakti, in 1998 under former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Recently, the tensions between India and Pakistan following Operation Sindoor, launched by the Indian army in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, has rekindled debates about nuclear weapons, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that the nation would no longer tolerate nuclear blackmail and will respond to any terrorist attack with strict and decisive action. (ANI)
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