Pokhran-II Nuclear Tests Begin

Date: May 11, 1998 • Location: Pokaran, India

India began the Pokhran-II nuclear-weapons test, its first since the Smiling Buddha test 24 years earlier.

Pokhran-II was a series of five nuclear weapon tests conducted by India in May 1998. The bombs were detonated at the Indian Army's Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan. It was the second instance of nuclear testing conducted by India, after the first test, Smiling Buddha, in May 1974.