India’s first nuclear test
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 5 March 2026
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In May 1974 India successfully detonated its first atomic device. It had been developed in secret with the codename Smiling Buddha.
India called it a peaceful nuclear explosion, though the experimental device was in effect a plutonium bomb.
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.
Dr SK Sikka, who was one of India’s leading nuclear scientists, spoke to Alex Last in 2018 about his role in the secret project.
Dr Sikka died in 2023 at the age of 82.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.
(Photo: A crater showing the aftermath of the nuclear test. Credit: Reuters)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:11.0 | Hello, you're listening to Witness History from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:16.0 | We're the daily podcast that takes you back to moments in history with the people who are there. |
| 0:21.1 | So, if that sounds like something that should be part of your daily listening, |
| 0:25.0 | make sure you subscribe and turn on your push notifications |
| 0:28.1 | for wherever you get your BBC podcasts. |
| 0:31.5 | So you never miss an episode. |
| 0:33.9 | We're going back to 1974, |
| 0:36.5 | when India shocked the world by carrying out its first ever nuclear explosion, |
| 0:41.7 | codenamed Smiling Budder. |
| 0:43.9 | In 2018, Alex Las spoke to one of the scientists who was involved with the test. |
| 0:52.7 | Everybody was almost unanimous that we should have a nuclear weapon at our hand. |
| 0:59.0 | On the 138th day of the year, at 8 hour 0.8 minutes, 20 seconds in the morning, Indian standard time, the graph went haywire. |
| 1:07.0 | They didn't expect that we'll have the capability. And then when we did it, everybody had to open their eyes on our science and technology. |
| 1:17.6 | In 1969, Dr. S.K. Sika was a young nuclear scientist employed at India's main nuclear research establishment, the Baba Atomic Research Centre near Mumbai. |
| 1:28.9 | He was finishing his PhD under the supervision of one of the country's leading nuclear |
| 1:33.2 | scientists, Dr. Jarambram. Little did Dr. Seeker know, but his supervisor had been recruited |
| 1:39.5 | to a secret project to build a nuclear device by one of the centre's top directors, Dr. Raja |
| 1:46.6 | Ramana, a man who would become central to India's nuclear weapons program. |
| 1:52.2 | I was assembling my PhD thesis in my room and I got a call from Dr. Ramanna's office that I |
| 1:59.9 | should come and see him and Dr. Chidambaram was there and Dr. Ravaram was there from Dr. Ramanna's office that I should come and see him. |
| 2:01.6 | And Dr. Chidambaram was there and Dr. Ramanna told me that Sikka you have done enough for yourself. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.