POKHARAN II

Eleven years ago, India went Nuclear. This is what LK Advani has written in his memoirs:.

“The first and foremost task of the Vajpayee government was to make India a nuclear weapons power-a vital commitment in every election manifesto of the BJP since 1967. That our government implemented this promise within two months of assuming office showed that we had the courage, as they say in contemporary parlance, to walk our talk. As I look back, I find that the people of India have noted many contributions of the Vajpayee government towards the development of India’s infrastructure-highways, rural roads, telecom, IT, power sector reforms, etc. But our government’s greatest achievement was instilling a sense of pride, confidence and hope in Indians, both within and outside India. A major contributor to this national resurgence was, of course, a historic event that took place on 11 May 1998, confirming our resolve to make India ’shaktishali (strong), samruddha (prosperous) and swabhimani (self-confident)’. It was on the auspicious occasion of Buddha Purnima, the day of Gautam Buddha’s birth, when this long-standing commitment of the BJP was translated into reality. On that very morning, Atalji had shifted his residence from 7 Safdarjung Road to the Prime Minister’s official address: 7 Race Course Road. The mandatory puja had been completed but the day was destined to become memorable for him, and for the nation, for another reason. Sitting in the Prime Minister’s living room were seven of us-Atalji, Defence Minister George Fernandes, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Jaswant Singh, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, the Prime Minister’s Political Advisor Pramod Mahajan, his Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra, and myself. We were eagerly awaiting a message from the deserts of Rajasthan-to be precise, from Pokharan. The message came, slightly before 4 pm, on a specially installed top-security telephone line: ‘Tests successful’. India’s nuclear scientists had succeeded in conducting three simultaneous nuclear explosions, heralding India’s emergence as a nuclear weapons state. None of us in the room could control our emotions. I, perhaps the weakest in this regard, had tears in my eyes. Atalji thanked the scientists who made it happen-in particular, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Head of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO); R. Chidambaram, head of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE); Dr Anil Kakodkar (who is now the head of DAE); and Dr K. Santhanam, Chief Advisor to DRDO. Shortly thereafter, he went to the sprawling lawns of his residence to make the following announcement before the media: ‘Today, at 1545 hours, India conducted three underground nuclear tests in the Pokharan range. The tests conducted today were with a fission device, a low yield device and a thermonuclear device. The measured yields are in line with expected values. Measurements have also confirmed that there was no release of radioactivity into the atmosphere. These were contained explosions like the experiment conducted in May 1974. I warmly congratulate the scientists and engineers who have carried out these successful tests.’ Two more nuclear tests were conducted at Pokharan on 13 May 1998, thus completing the planned series of underground tests. What stunned the rulers in western capitals was the complete failure of their intelligence agencies to penetrate the cover of secrecy surrounding the tests.”

Comments

Copyright © 2009 Friends of BJP — Because India Deserves Better