Norwegian aid to India’s atomic programme
Foreign Minister Thorvald Stoltenberg writes a letter to the Indian government asking for assistance to recover a shipment of Norwegian heavy water that ended up in the hands of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, a key institution in India’s nuclear weapons programme. (See DT 6/03)
The issue is complicated by the fact that the aid agency Norad gave aid support to the tune of NOK 500,000 to the same institution ten years previously.
The reply, written by Chair of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission, flatly denies that India has received heavy water from Norway, and suggests that Stoltenberg search elsewhere.