Secrets of the CIA

Entities in India and Iran appear to have engaged in very limited nuclear, chemical and missile-related transfers over the years. There are no publicly available indications of activities related to biological weapons. In the early 1990s, when Iran actively sought nuclear-related assistance and technology from many foreign sources, India appears to have played only a minor role in contrast to other states. India signed an agreement in November 1991 to provide a 10-megawatt research reactor to Tehran, but canceled under pressure from the United States. Nonetheless, India reportedly trained Iranian nuclear scientists in the 1990s.15 More recently, India’s Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh stated in December 2003 that India “has and would continue to help Iran in its controversial bid to generate nuclear energy.”16 From 1998 to 2003, the United States has imposed nonproliferation sanctions on several different Indian entities for chemical and biological-weapons related transfers to Iraq.17 I...

In its semi-annual, unclassified report in 2000 to Congress on the acquisition of technology relating to weapons of mass destruction, the CIA identified India, along with Iran and Pakistan, as a “traditional recipient of WMD and missile technology” that could emerge as a new supplier of technology and expertise.14 The unclassified report also noted that “private companies, scientists, and engineers in Russia, China, and India may be increasing their involvement in WMD- and missile-related assistance, taking advantage of weak or unenforceable national export controls and the growing availability of technology.” In 2001, the unclassified CIA report noted that “We are increasingly concerned about the growth of ‘secondary proliferation’ from maturing state-sponsored programs, such as those in India, Iran, North Korea, and Pakistan.” Endnotes 14 Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advanced Conventional Munitions, 1 Jul...