INDIA PLANS TO DISCUSS CTBT IN STRATEGIC SECURITY

UNCLAS NEW DELHI 001960 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PARM KNNP IN SUBJECT: INDIA PLANS TO DISCUSS CTBT IN STRATEGIC SECURITY TALKS, MAINTAIN TESTING MORATORIUM REF: A. STATE 95946 ¶B. NEW DELHI 1858 ¶C. NEW DELHI 1833 ¶1. (SBU) In response to ref A demarche, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Under Secretary for Disarmament and International Security Affairs (DISA) Vipul reaffirmed India's unilateral, voluntary moratorium on further nuclear testing in place since May 1998. He declined to speculate about India's position on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in the event the United States ratified the Treaty. Vipul welcomed in principle the offer of bilateral discussions on the margins of the CTBT Article XIV Conference in New York September 24-25, saying that such consultations were consistent with the spirit of our growing cooperation on nonproliferation. However, he suggested that such discussions would more appropriately take place in the Strategic Security talks planned -- but not yet scheduled -- to take place prior to Prime Minister Singh's visit to Washington November 24. Vipul confirmed that MEA was preparing feedback on the proposed agenda for the Strategic Security talks, which included discussion of the CTBT (ref B). ¶2. (SBU) COMMENT: Vipul's description of India's position on the CTBT seemed unaffected by the on-going media controversy over the alleged failure of India's 1998 thermonuclear test (ref C). Strategic pundits continued to weigh in, most agreeing that the alleged "fizzle" should not fundamentally alter India's nuclear deterrence strategy. K. Santhanam, the former DRDO scientist who touched off the current controversy, added September 21 that India was "naked" to the threat from China and "incapable" of weaponizing a thermonuclear device, urging the government to lift the testing moratorium. In a series of interviews September 20-21, National Security Advisor Narayanan maintained the Government's position that it possessed a credible thermonuclear deterrent and that further testing was unnecessary. END COMMENT. ROEMER