Bhabha correctly assessed that such a test may not pose an immediate military threat to India, but the psychological fallout could be catastrophic for a nation that was still reeling from the aftermath of a border war with China in 1962. Bhabha wrote: ‘I am inclined to the view that the only way this can be done at present is for us to show that, should China explode such a device, we are in a position to do so within a few months thereafter.’
