May 18 - India Becomes the World's Sixth Nuclear Power

This Day in History: 18 May 2020

 

18 May 1974

 

46 years ago, today, India joined the nuclear club as it successfully detonated its first nuclear weapon in the Rajasthan Desert. This fission bomb was similar in explosive power to the historic US atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in World War Two. India's nuclear test fell on the traditional anniversary of the Buddha's enlightenment, so when the bomb was detonated, the Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, received the message "Buddha has smiled". This test also made India the world's sixth nuclear power, breaking the nuclear monopoly of the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France and China, who also made up the U.N. Security Council.

 

In 1968, India had refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, as they continually suffered border disputes with China. They feared a second war with China would occur, or even a fourth war with Pakistan, so began to develop a nuclear deterrent in the early 1970s. The successful first nuclear test on this day sparked an expanded arms race with Pakistan. This did not involve further nuclear tests but did see the development of deadly intermediate and long-range ballistic missiles by both India and Pakistan. 20 years after the first detonation, India continued to test nuclear weapons, leading to worldwide outrage and Pakistan's first nuclear bomb.

 

Want to find out more about the history of India and nuclear weapons? Click here for more details, or here for a video detailing the event.