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| BARC, the hub of Indian nuclear research, was too close to Pakistan and too important to be risked. |
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi scrapped a plan to drop 2,000 pound bombs on Pakistan's nuclear sites after it threatened to attack Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at Trombay.
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission chairman Munir Ahmed Khan personally delivered the message to Indian nuclear scientist Raja Ramanna at a conference in Vienna, reports The Times of India.
Raja Ramanna quickly informed Indira Gandhi about the threat, who was also under pressure from the USA to drop the plan. She decided to back off.
BARC, the hub of Indian nuclear research, was too close to Pakistan and too important to be risked.
Indian media had recently reported on Indira Gandhi's plan to target Pak nuclear installations quoting a 12-page CIA document that has been made public.
When Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980, Pakistan was in an advanced stage of developing nuclear weapons,
Indira Gandhi seemed to have planned a two-pronged strategy to counter the threat: Bolstering India's capability by green-flagging a 40-kiloton nuclear test and carrying out air strikes on Pakistan sites.
According to an account, an Indian Jaguar squadron had even begun practicing low-level flying with 2,000-pound bombs.
But as it turned out Indira Gandhi was not able to carry out any of these plans.