While the Narasimha Rao-Manmohan Singh-led economic liberalisation signalled India joining the global balance of power, it needed the Shakti tests to make the world realise that India had aspirations to play a global role strategically, economically and technologically.
Then prime minister Vajpayee could conduct the Shakti tests within two months of his assuming office because previous prime ministers had accumulated adequate foreign exchange reserve to insure India against economic pressure and they had readied the 'bomb' for testing.
Still, the credit for taking the bold decision which was bound to be opposed by the entire international community goes to Vajpayee and his colleagues. They handled the diplomatic aftermath of the test very skilfully so that, within two years after the test, India's relations with US, Russia, European Union and ASEAN were very cordial. Vajpayee's Lahore trip, his joint declaration with Nawaz Sharif and his restraint during the Kargil war established India's reputation as a restrained power.
Vajpayee took the initiative in cultivating all the major powers, particularly the United States which he termed as India's natural ally. His diplomacy paid rich dividends and president Bill Clinton visited India in March 2000, 22 years after president Jimmy Carter. Though he denounced the Indian nuclear tests, there was no doubt that India would not have generated the interest it did in US calculations but for the test, along with its economic performance and strategic restraint.
Economic liberalisation started India's journey towards the destination of becoming a global actor, but it is the Shakti test which sensitised the world that India had arrived. The BJP government realised that the key to recognising that India was a member of the balance of power was in the hands of US and therefore began negotiations on the Next Steps in the Strategic Partnership, NSSP.
Photograph: A crater marks the site of the first Indian underground nuclear test conducted on May 18, 1974 at Pokhran in Rajasthan. After a gap of 24 years, on May 11 and 13, 1998, India conducted a series of underground nuclear explosions. Photograph: AFP/ Getty Images
Also read: The bomb and after
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