'No power in the world can suppress or force India': PM Modi recalls 1998 Pokhran test

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that "no power in the world can force India to bow down", ahead of the anniversary of the country’s 1998 nuclear tests in Pokhran. The remarks from the Indian Prime Minister came during his address at the Somnath Amrut Mahotsav. The event was celebrating 75 years of the reconstructed Somnath Temple.

The prime minister was addressing the massive gathering after participating in Vishesh Maha Puja, followed by the Kumbhabhishek and Dhvajarohan ceremonies. In his speech, PM Modi said that the Pokhran nuclear tests showed India’s strong political will despite global pressure and sanctions.

“On May 11, 1998 – on this very day – India conducted nuclear tests in Pokhran. Many kinds of restrictions were imposed. Even the paths of economic opportunities were blocked. Anyone would have been shaken when powerful nations across the world launched such a massive attack. But we are made of a different soil," he said on Monday.

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“But on May 13, two more nuclear tests were conducted. That showed the world how unwavering India’s political will truly was," the prime minister averred. He went on to vow that “no power in the world can suppress or force India to bow down."

PM Modi linked the Pokhran Tests to the rebuilding of the Somnath Temple

The prime minister also linked the spirit of the Pokhran tests with the rebuilding of the Somnath Temple. He maintained that both the endeavours reflected India’s civilisational confidence and resilience.

While speaking about the temple, the Prime Minister said reconstruction of the Somnath Temple after Independence symbolised India’s cultural and civilisational confidence. “Seventy-five years ago on this very day, the restoration of the Somnath Temple was not an ordinary occasion. If India attained independence in 1947, then the consecration of Somnath in 1951 proclaimed the spirit of India’s civilizational freedom," he said.

He went on to refer to repeated attacks on the temple in the past and said that they failed to understand the strength of India’s faith and culture. “The invaders considered Somnath to be merely a physical structure and kept attacking it. It was destroyed again and again, and rebuilt every time," he said.

The prime minister insisted that Somnath Amrut Parv is not just a festival to celebrate the past; it will be India’s inspiration for the next 1000 years.