The U.S. statement on future Indian testing, contained in a letter kept private for nine months, appears at odds with Indian officials’ insistence that a landmark U.S.-Indian civilian nuclear cooperation accord would not ban Indian nuclear tests.

Rep. Howard Berman is releasing the State Department’s Jan. 16 answers to key congressional questions at a sensitive moment in the countries’ pursuit of a deal that would reverse three decades of U.S. policy by shipping atomic fuel to India in return for international inspections on India’s civilian reactors.

Members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group of countries that export nuclear material are gathering in Vienna on Thursday and Friday to discuss the deal. The Bush administration must get an exemption for India from the NSG’s rules before the U.S. Congress could ratify the proposal, which would allow the sale of nuclear materials to a country that has tested nuclear weapons but has refused to sign nonproliferation treaties.

In the letter addressed to Berman’s predecessor as chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, the late Tom Lantos, the State Department said that stopping nuclear trade with India would be “a serious step” and would come only under circumstances that include the detonation of a nuclear weapon.

U.S. assurances to India on the continuation of nuclear fuel supply, the letter said, “are intended to guard against disruptions of fuel supply to India that might occur through no fault of India’s own.” Those would include a trade war and market disruptions.

“The fuel supply assurances are not, however, meant to insulate India against the consequences of a nuclear explosive test or a violation of nonproliferation commitments,” the letter said.

Some countries at the Nuclear Suppliers Group have offered strong opposition to an exemption for India. The Vienna talks this week are expected to focus on amendments to a U.S.-proposed draft statement that would allow India access to other nations’ nuclear fuel and technology.

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