On Wednesday, the nation lost its top nuke scientist Dr PK Iyengar, who designed the first atomic bomb that was detonated at Pokhran in 1974, and was a staunch opponent of the Indo-US nuclear deal. Dr AN Prasad, former director of Bhabha Atomic Research Center who had the privilege of working with Iyengar, remembers the man who says was "uncompromising as far as national interests are concerned".
'His emphasis on self-reliance is essentially due to the fact he wanted India to be a nuclear weapons country.' Dr P K Iyengar remembers the father of India's nuclear programme.
Were the May 1988 nuclear tests a success? 20 years after Pokharan, a look back at those decisive atomic tests through the eyes of someone who knew.
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