Modi lauds scientists for Pokhran nuke tests of May 1998

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks during a speech to the general public in Toronto, April 15, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

NEW DELHI -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday lauded the efforts of scientists in making the Pokhran nuclear tests of May 1998 a success.

"We salute efforts of our scientists & political leadership behind the success of Pokhran Tests on this day in 1998," Modi tweeted.

On May 11, 1998, India conducted a series of five nuclear bomb test explosions at the Indian Army's Pokhran Test Range in the western state of Rajasthan.

The tests consisted of five detonations, of which the first was a fusion bomb and the remaining four were fission bombs.

The Bharatiya Janata Party was in power, led by then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, when the Pokhra tests -- the country's second set of nuclear tests, the first being in 1974 -- took place.

These nuclear tests resulted in a variety of sanctions against India by a number of countries, including the United States and Japan.