10th anniversary of Pokhran-II not to be officially observed

New Delhi: The tenth anniversary of the Pokhran-II nuclear tests would not be officially observed, but the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will celebrate its foundation day on May 12.

"I think when we are talking about India's nuclear programme, we have every reason to be proud of what we have achieved. Being proud of Pokhran itself is a reason for celebration but I don t see any further reason to celebrate the (1998) detonation," Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju told CNN-IBN here.

Five nuclear explosions were carried out on May 11 and 13,1998,by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. The first nuclear test, codenamed Smiling Buddha , was conducted on May 18,1974 by the government led by Indira Gandhi.

Observing that the Pokhran-II tests had "demonstrated the capability India had", Raju said it had its "detrimental effects" also in terms of inviting sanctions "which have affected our strategic and important programmes that were of importance to the nation."

"So I do not see any reason why it should be advertised loudly about," the Minister said.

Official sources later said that the UPA government has never celebrated the Pokhran-II nuclear tests since it came to power over four years ago.

But the DRDO, which was a major agency behind these tests, would celebrate its foundation day on May 12,the sources said.

Source : PTI