National Technology Day: How Atal Bihari Vajpayee scripted history in Pokhran in 1998

In a tweet, PM Modi said: “On National Technology Day, our nation salutes all those who are leveraging technology to bring a positive difference in the lives of others. We remember the exceptional achievement of our scientists on this day in 1998. It was a landmark moment in India’s history.”

“The tests in Pokhran in 1998 also showed the difference a strong political leadership can make,” PM Modi said in another tweet.

The prime minister also posted a video from one of his ‘Mann ki Baat’ programmes in which he spoke about Pokhran, Indian scientists and “Atal Ji’s remarkable leadership”.

On May 11, 1998, India successfully detonated the ‘Shakti-1’ nuclear bomb in an operation called ‘Pokhran-II’. It was codenamed ‘Operation Shakti’. The test was carried out at Indian Army's Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan. The underground test marked India’s arrival on the world’s nuclear stage.

The first three detonations took place simultaneously at 3.45 pm on May 11. Two other nuclear devices were detonated simultaneously on May 13.

Following this, Vajpayee announced India as a nuclear state, making it sixth country in the world to join the “nuclear club” and the first country that was not party to the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT).

The NPT is a global treaty signed by the United Kingdom, Russia, China, France and the United States which has the objectives to prevent the increase of nuclear weapons and attain nuclear disarmament.

This was the second instance of nuclear testing conducted by India. The first test was conducted in May 1974 under the codename ‘Operation Smiling Buddha’.

Every year, the Technology Development Board of India (TDB) celebrates the day by awarding the National Award to individuals for their contribution to fields of science and technology.

The day also commemorates the first indigenous aircraft ‘Hansa-3’ which made its test flight at Bangalore on this day. India also performed successful test firing of the Trishul missile on the same day.