Letter: Testing times

Sir: India has conducted underground weapon tests, and the United States complains that "this runs counter to the effort the international community is making to promulgate a comprehensive ban on such testing".

The United States' objections would be more soundly based if it had not over the years supported Israel's nuclear weapons and itself recently been developing new types of nuclear weapons that happen not to need testing.

Since the 1960s, when the Non-Proliferation Treaty was being negotiated, India has been quite consistent: either there is a general and comprehensive disarmament system - in which the United States and the other nuclear powers participate - or there is not. There is not.

ELIZABETH YOUNG

London W2