Rubuta ci gaba ga wannan sakin layi - Tun lokacin samun 'yancin kai Indiya ta kasance cikin bin damar nukiliya. Nehru ya ji cewa makamashin nukiliya na iya ciyar da kasar gaba da taimakawa wajen cimma burin ci gabanta. Sakamakon haka, Nehru ya fara neman taimako daga Burtaniya, Kanada da Amurka. A shekarar 1958 gwamnatin Indiya tare da taimakon Homi J. Bhabha ta amince da shirin samar da wutar lantarki sau uku kuma an kafa Cibiyar Nazarin Nukiliya a shekarar 1954. Indira Gandhi ta shaida gwajin nukiliya na ci gaba da China daga 1964 zuwa gaba, don haka barazanar rayuwa ga Indiya. A sakamakon haka, Indiya ta gudanar da gwajin nukiliya a cikin jejin Pokhran a Rajasthan a ranar 18 ga Mayu, 1974 kuma ta kira shi Operation Smiling Buddha. Indiya ta yi iƙirarin cewa gwajin ya kasance don "manufofin zaman lafiya". Koyaya, kasar ta fuskanci suka kuma Amurka da Kanada sun dakatar da duk wani tallafi ga Indiya. Duk da tsananin sukar kasa da kasa, gwajin nukiliya ya shahara a cikin gida wanda ya haifar da farfadowa da shahararren Indira Gandhi, wanda ya ragu sosai daga tsawo bayan yakin 1971.
Ka yi haƙuri. Daga baya, gwamnatin ta ta samu nasarar kula da sauyawa zuwa jihar ga Arewa maso gabashin Indiya. A cikin 1972, Indira Gandhi ta ba da jihar Meghalaya, Manipur da Tripura, yayin da aka ayyana Hukumar Arewa maso Gabas a matsayin yankin tarayya kuma aka sake masa suna Arunachal Pradesh. Wannan ya biyo bayan hadewar Sikkim a shekarar 1975.