India’s first nuclear test

<p>In May 1974 India successfully detonated its first atomic device. It had been developed in secret with the codename Smiling Buddha. </p><p>India called it a peaceful nuclear explosion, though the experimental device was in effect a plutonium bomb. </p><p>The test was seen as a triumph of Indian science and technology, but it led to the suspension of international nuclear cooperation with India, and spurred Pakistan to speed up development of its own nuclear bomb. </p><p>Dr SK Sikka, who was one …