CIPHERED TELEGRAM NO. 213, EMBASSY OF HUNGARY IN INDIA TO THE HUNGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY
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Report on the status of the Indian nuclear program from Soviet sources. India may be preparing for an atomic bomb test."Ciphered Telegram No. 213, Embassy of Hungary in India to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry" August 13, 1985, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, Hungarian National Archives (Magyar Országos Levéltár, MOL). XIX-J-1-j India, 1985, 68. doboz, 60-532, 004156/1985. Obtained and translated for NPIHP by Balazs Szalontai. http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/111955 - Share
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A Soviet counselor told our counselor that in their opinion, the Indian government seriously considered developing an atomic bomb, but it has not made a final decision yet.
On the basis of the signs which have been observable in recent weeks, one may conclude that they have started to make the domestic and international public opinion psychologically prepared for the possibility of exploding an Indian atomic bomb. Such a test would also put the Soviet Union in a delicate position, because the USSR is consistently committed to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, while at the same time India's nuclear armament would create an entirely new strategic situation in South Asia.
During Rajiv Gandhi's visit in Moscow, the Indian side sought to persuade the Soviet side to provide a nuclear reactor without the necessary Indian safeguards, but the Soviet side firmly refused to do so.
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