Since Independence India was in pursuit of nuclear capabilities. Nehru felt that the nuclear energy can take the country forward and help achieving its developmental goals. Consequently, Nehru began to seek assistance from the United Kingdom, Canada and the USA. In 1958 the government of India with the help of Homi J. Bhabha adopted three-phase power production plan and the Nuclear Research Institute was established in 1954. Indira Gandhi witnessed continuous nuclear testing by China from 1964 onwards, thus the existential threat to India. Aa a result, India conducted a nuclear test in the Pokhran desert in Rajasthan on May 18, 1974 and named it Operation Smiling Buddha. India asserted that the test was for "peaceful purposes". However, the country faced criticism and the United States and Canada suspended all support to India. In spite of intense international criticism, the nuclear test was popular domestically causing an immediate revival of Indira Gandhi's popularity, which had flagged considerably from its heights after the 1971 war. Subsequently, the transition to statehood for Northeast India was successfully overseen by her administration. In 1972, Indira Gandhi granted statehood to Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura, while the North-East Frontier Agency was declared a union territory and renamed Arunachal Pradesh. This was followed by the annexation of Sikkim in 1975.