Pokhran - Pokhran Test Range

Pokhran Test Range

Pokhran is an apex research and testing site of the Indian nuclear programme. The site was built by Indian Army Corps of Engineers and is under the control of Indian Army. It is unclear when the site was built but it shot into the international limelight on 7 September 1974 when the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi verbally authorized scientists at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at Trombay to detonate small and miniaturized nuclear device. Throughout its development, the device was formally called the "Peaceful Nuclear Explosive (PNE)" by Indian Government, but it was usually referred to as the Operation Smiling Buddha. The Indian government, however, declared that it was not going to make nuclear weapons even though it had acquired the capacity to do so. It claimed that the Pokhran explosion was an effort to harness atomic energy for peaceful purposes and to make India self-reliant in nuclear technology, but subsequently, India conducted five nuclear tests on 11 May and 13 May 1998