Bangalore, August 28: Former President A P J Abdul Kalam today asserted that Pokhran-II nuclear tests conducted in 1998 during the NDA regime were “successful”, dismissing the claims by a former defence scientist to the contrary.
“Scientists know what it is. It has been a successful operation,” Kalam, who as Director General of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) spearheaded the tests, told reporters here on the sidelines of a function.
Kalam initially refused to respond to questions by reporters on the claim made by former defence scientist K Santhanam that the yield in the thermonuclear device test was much lower than what was declared, but later said the test was a “successful operation”.
Rejecting Santhanam’s claims, Kalam had yesterday said the data collated by the team has established that the design yield of the thermonuclear test has been obtained.
—Agencies