In a shocking revelation, the United States Central Investigation Agency (CIA) has claimed that in the year 1985, India was prepared with a hydrogen bomb under former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi government in order to counter Pakistan’s nuclear programme.
According to reports, CIA has posted over 93,000 declassified documents which also reveals India’s stand on nuclear weapons in the 1980s. It also shows the country’s increasing tension over Pakistan’s nuclear programme. It further revealed that the hydrogen bomb that Rajiv Gandhi’s government was building was much vigorous and tougher the one India launched when his mother Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister in 1974.
A team of 36 scientists working at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre had built this bomb. The document stated that “a rapid series of Pakistani tests would compel New Delhi to develop nuclear weapons and touch off a nuclear arms race between the two.”
However, Rajiv Gandhi had said that he would like to review his nuclear policy after considering Pakistan’s nuclear programme. The released documents further revealed that Pakistan and China were also were looked upon as a major threat to India. CIA added that it was extremely difficult for them to access the highly secured details of India’s nuclear programme.
With tensions between India and Pakistan escalating, Ronald Reagan who was the serving as the President of the United States back then, even thought about sending a mediator to resolve issues between the neighboring countries.
However, Rajiv Gandhi did not go ahead with the nuclear tests and it was finally conducted under former Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee in the year 1998.
