Overview
- Modi, in posts on X on Monday, saluted the scientists behind the 1998 Pokhran tests and called technology a pillar of a self-reliant India.
- Speaking later at Somnath, he said the 1998 detonations showed India’s political will and declared that no power could make the country bow.
- The government marked the day with a national exhibition at the National Institute of Immunology in New Delhi that displayed more than 350 homegrown deep-tech projects from 14 ministries.
- A Union minister’s op-ed linked the commemoration to policy gains, citing India’s rise to 38th in the 2025 Global Innovation Index and sharp increases in patents granted and DPIIT-recognised startups.
- Operation Shakti comprised three underground blasts on May 11 and two on May 13 in 1998, including a thermonuclear device and fission devices, according to the Department of Atomic Energy.