Stark reminder this day 25 years ago when I was single, unmarried and new to the United States. Driving alone on a cool, Spring morning from Upstate New York to Pittsburgh, I stopped to grab a Starbucks Expresso off the Interstate 81 when I saw the conspicuous headline in Tall and Bold alphabets on the front page of the "USA TODAY" newspaper - INDIA TESTS NUCLEAR WEAPON.
The News caught me by surprise, as the night before I went to sleep I scanned newspaper headlines from India for news from back home on my desktop (it was an era sans Smart phones and tablets, mobile Internet was strictly fantasy). There was no inkling of any such activity on world media.
I immediately pulled 50 cents out of my pocket and pulled out the newspaper from a vending machine, going through it at a breathtaking speed. It was (and mostly even today), a rare mention about India on the front page of an American Newspaper.
India truly caught the whole world napping. Not only our pugnacious, obnoxious neighbors Pakistan and China had any clue, the United States, with all its technical prowess failed to see it coming. Even CIA, which then had more budget than India's GDP at that time came to know about it after the official announcement came from India. The American Press poked fun at CIA - mocking its acronym as standing for Cannot Identify Anything.
The Pokhran Nuclear test of 1998 was one of our major milestones in security. India, often seen as nincompoomp by outside world, proved that it can prove the proven powers wrong by flexing its muscles and taking them everyone by surprise.
As usual Pakistan went berserk with the news, but China whined a lot, being well aware that it is more directed towards it as a deterrent, because of its conventional superiority over India. It yet vindicated what George Fernandez, the then defence minister said about the middle kingdom - "China is our enemy number 1". It still stands true, more than Pakistan, China is going to be a long term threat to India, a perennial thorn to its flesh. US led sanctions followed, which had minimal effects on India.
Nevertheless, on its 25th Anniversary Hats off to the Vajpayee's govt and the Scientists who were seen hats on, guiding and goofing the ever prying eyes of US satellites for the stupendous success and the day being forever etched in our memory for lifetime.
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