While india has a declared commitment of no first use its nuclear doctrine does hold that nuclear retaliation to a first strike will be massive. On may 11 1998 india resumed nuclear testing leading to international outrage and pakistan s detonation of its first nuclear bomb later in the month. An indian atomic.
The nehru government looked to nuclear power as an inexpensive energy source for the young country. India s nuclear program dates back to 1948 just one year after independence. India s nuclear strategy shifting from pakistan to china india continues to modernize its nuclear arsenal with at least three new weapon systems now under development to complement or.
Pokhran i was also the first confirmed nuclear weapons test by a nation outside the five permanent members of. The bomb was detonated on the army base pokhran test range ptr in rajasthan by the indian army under the supervision of several key indian generals. Pokhran i was the assigned code name of india s first successful nuclear bomb test on 18 may 1974.
Smiling buddha mea designation. India and china have added to their nuclear warhead stockpile in the last year while all other nuclear armed nations like the u s russia and france continued to modernize their arsenal. Despite india s formidable nuclear arsenal india had since 2003 maintained it will not use said weapons of mass destruction first but strictly in a retaliatory manner for deterrence.
Explore more on india nuclear weapons. Find india nuclear weapons latest news videos pictures on india nuclear weapons and see latest updates news information from ndtv com. Pakistan on thursday said it could not ignore the arms build up by india including its purchase of rafale fighter jets which could be modified to deliver nuclear weapons.
In 1999 india was estimated to have 800 kg of separated. India has developed and possesses weapons of mass destruction in the form of nuclear weapons although india has not released any official statements about the size of its nuclear arsenal recent estimates suggest that india has 140 150 nuclear weapons and has produced enough weapons grade plutonium for up to 150 200 nuclear weapons.
