Report on US Ambassador to India Frank Wisner's meeting with Indian Opposition Leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee about the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and halting any nuclear test. The Ambassador found the meeting unproductive. The CTBT was central to the discussion but it was evident that Vajpayee was not interested and his “body language” indicated that he was inclined to favor a nuclear test. During one point in the discussion, Vajpayee asked, “What if we start underground tests?” According to the embassy’s message, “we interpret his question about testing as indicating that [he] and the BJP would favor a test” and would not be persuaded by U.S. arguments—“reason”—to forego one.

Creator

Wisner, Frank (Frank G.)

Subjects Discussed

• Nuclear weapons--India
• Nuclear proliferation
• Nuclear weapons--Testing
• India--Foreign relations--United States
• Nuclear explosions--India--Pokhran II
• Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (1996)

Locations discussed

• India
• United States

Appears in Collections

• Indian Nuclear History
• Nuclear Proliferation

Source

• Mandatory Declassification Review request. Obtained and contributed by William Burr and included in NPIHP Research Update #10.

Type

• Telegram

Language

• English

Publishers

• Nuclear Proliferation International History Project (NPIHP)

Rights

• NPIHP - Content in the Digital Archive is made available for non-commercial research and educational use. Copyright is retained by the rights holders in accordance with US and international copyright laws. For permission to reproduce this document, please contact the Nuclear Proliferation International History Project at NPIHP@wilsoncenter.org. Please include the six-digit record ID number for all referenced documents.

Record ID

• 116352

Classification

• Confidential