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Operation Smiling Buddha: How India built a secret nuclear device 52 years ago and changed history

Operation Smiling Buddha: How India built a secret nuclear device 52 years ago and changed history

| May 18, 2026, 07:29:35 PM | TOI.in

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On May 18, 1974, Indian scientists detonated a nuclear device beneath the Thar Desert — codenamed Smiling Buddha — and sent a message to Indira Gandhi that simply read: “The Buddha has smiled.” Officially called a Peaceful Nuclear Explosion, the test stunned the world, fractured global alliances, triggered the creation of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and made India the first nation outside the UN Security Council’s five permanent members to go nuclear. Here’s the full story of the operation that changed history.

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