ABSTRACT
India’s decision to explode a nuclear device must be seen within the context of that country’s attitude to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Although India is generally regarded as an underdeveloped country, it has never been very far behind the rich countries in the field of nuclear technology. The man largely responsible for the development of India’s nuclear power programme during its early years was Homi Bhabha, an eminent Indian physicist. An advisory body entitled the Atomic Energy Commission was established as early as 1948 in the Indian Ministry of Natural Resources and Scientific Research. In 1954 a Department of Atomic Energy with the full powers of a ministry was established with Jawaharlal Nehru as first Minister of Atomic Energy. In the same year the main atomic energy research establishment, known as The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, was set up on the outskirts of Bombay.
