On 6 April 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X: “Today, India takes a defining step in its civil nuclear journey, advancing the second stage of its nuclear programme…It is a decisive step towards harnessing our vast thorium reserves in the third stage of the programme.” This was no routine government communiqué. It was the public proclamation of India’s formal entry into the second stage of its unique three-stage nuclear power programme; the long-awaited bridge to a thorium-powered future. Barely hours earlier, former Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Dr Anil Kakodkar had also signaled the same milestone from his own…