Target Exam

CUET

Subject

Political Science

Chapter

Politics in India Since Independence: India's External Relations

Question:

Under whose guidance was India's nuclear programme initiated in the late 1940s?

Options:

Homi J. Bhabha

PC Mahalanobis

APJ Abdul Kalam

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Correct Answer:

Homi J. Bhabha

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option (1) → Homi J. Bhabha

"Nehru had always put his faith in science and technology for rapidly building a modern India. A significant component of his industrialisation plans was the nuclear programme initiated in the late 1940s under the guidance of Homi J. Bhabha. India wanted to generate atomic energy for peaceful purposes. Nehru was against nuclear weapons. So he pleaded with the superpowers for comprehensive nuclear disarmament. However, the nuclear arsenal kept rising. When Communist China conducted nuclear tests in October 1964, the five nuclear weapon powers, the US, USSR, UK, France, and China (Taiwan then represented China) – also the five Permanent Members of the UN Security Council – tried to impose the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968 on the rest of the world. India always considered the NPT as discriminatory and had refused to sign it. When India conducted its first nuclear test, it was termed as peaceful explosion. India argued that it was committed to the policy of using nuclear power only for peaceful purposes. "