Editing Smiling Buddha (section)

== Nuclear test ==
[[File:DRDO Successfully Flight-Tested Guided Bomb From SU-30 MKI (2).png|thumb|The test was conducted at the [[Pokhran#Pokhran Test Range|Pokhran Test Range]] (pictured during a test in 2019)]]
The [[Indian Army]] was involved in the test preparations at the [[Pokhran#Pokhran Test Range|Pokhran Test Range]] in [[Rajasthan]]. The project was code named ''Operation Smiling Buddha'' ([[Ministry of External Affairs (India)|MEA]] designation: ''Pokhran-I'') while as per the [[Military Intelligence Corps (United States Army)|United States military intelligence]], the operation was named as ''Happy Krishna''.<ref name="Shankar">{{cite book|title=Nixon, Indira and India: Politics and Beyond|author=Kalyani Shankar|year=2010|isbn=978-0-230-32868-6|publisher=Macmillan Publishers India|page=357}}</ref> The preparations were carried by civilian scientists assisted by the Indian Army.<ref name="Smiling Buddha">{{cite web|url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/India/IndiaSmiling.html|work=India's Nuclear Weapons Program|title=Smiling Buddha, 1974|publisher=Nuclear Weapon Archive}}</ref> Indira Gandhi maintained tight control of all aspects of the preparations of the test, which was conducted in extreme secrecy. Besides Gandhi, only her advisers [[Parmeshwar Narayan Haksar|Parmeshwar Haksar]] and [[Durga Prasad Dhar|D. P. Dhar]] were kept informed. Dhar had protested the test, fearing that the sanctions that would follow, would affect the Indian economy.<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/><ref name="Shankar"/> The Indian Defence Minister [[Jagjivan Ram]] was informed only a few days prior and [[Swaran Singh]], the [[Ministry of External Affairs (India)|Minister of External Affairs]], was given only 48 hours notice.{{sfn|Perkovich|1999|p=174}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Chengappa|first=Raj|title=Weapons of peace : the secret story of India's quest to be a nuclear power|year=2000|publisher=Harper Collins Publishers, India|location=New Delhi|isbn=81-7223-330-2}}</ref> [[General (India)|General]] [[Gopal Gurunath Bewoor|G. G. Bewoor]], [[Chief of the Army Staff (India)|Indian army chief]], and [[Lieutenant-General]] [[Tapishwar Narain Raina|T. N. Raina]], the commander of [[Western Command (India)|Indian Western Command]] were the only military commanders who knew about the test.<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/> The test was called a [[Peaceful nuclear explosions|Peaceful Nuclear Explosive]] (PNE). The device was detonated on 18 May 1974 at 8.05 [[Indian Standard Time|IST]] with [[Pranab R. Dastidar|Dastidar]] pushing the firing button.<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/><ref name="Pahuja">{{cite book|first=Om Parkash|last=Pahuja|title=India: A Nuclear Weapon State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GiI_Yt7SOA8C&pg=PT63|access-date=29 June 2012|publisher=Prabhat Prakashan|isbn=978-81-87100-69-0|pages=63–|year=2001}}</ref><ref name="Nuclear files archives">{{cite web|url=http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/timeline/timeline_page.php?year=1974|title=1974 Nuclear files|last=FIles|work=Nuclear Age Peace Foundation|publisher=Nuclear files archives|access-date=14 January 2013|archive-date=2 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702032049/http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/timeline/timeline_page.php?year=1974|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="NSG">{{cite web|title=History of the NSG|url=https://www.nsg-online.org/en/about-nsg|work=Nuclear Suppliers Group|access-date=14 January 2023|archive-date=3 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203133606/https://www.nsg-online.org/en/about-nsg|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Nuclear weapon yield|nuclear yield]] of the test has been difficult to determine with unclear data provided by Indian sources. Although politicians had given multiple numbers ranging from 2&nbsp;[[Kiloton|kt]] to 20&nbsp;kt, the official yield was initially set at 12&nbsp;kt. Independent seismic data from outside and analysis of the crater features indicated a lower figure. Analysts estimate the yield at 4 to 6&nbsp;kt, using conventional seismic magnitude-to-yield conversion formulas. Later, both Sethna and Iyengar conceded the official yield to be an exaggeration. Iyengar has stated that the yield was 8–10&nbsp;kt, that the device was designed to yield 10&nbsp;kt, and that the yield was 8&nbsp;kt "exactly as predicted".<ref name="Smiling Buddha"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/India/IndiaRealYields.html|title=What Are the Real Yields of India's Tests?|publisher=Nuclear Weapons Archive|access-date=1 December 2023}}</ref>