BJP MP Nishikant Dubey cites Himalayan 'CIA operation', claims Nehru surrendered to US
NEW DELHI: As Parliament's monsoon session approaches, the stage seems to be getting set for a BJP-Congress duel over "foreign interference", with BJP MP Nishikant Dubey circulating documents about Jawaharlal Nehru govt's decision to let US's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) install "two nuclear-powered devices" high in the Himalayas to monitor Chinese preparations for nuclear tests.
In a post of X, Dubey attached a copy of an April 1978 letter from members of the US Congress addressed to the then US president Jimmy Carter. The letter expressed concern about a "CIA operation" in India in the 1960s, which the US foreign intelligence agency apparently carried out without keeping Indian government in the loop.
The letter cited an 'Outside' article, published by Rolling Stone. According to author Howard Kohn there were "two nuclear-powered monitoring devices", allegedly for surveillance of Chinese atomic weapons testing, high in the Himalayas.
The devices, containing plutonium, were placed on two mountains, one of which, Nanda Devi, is the source of India's Ganges River, the holy river for millions of Hindus, the letter stated. The then Congress government's decision to let CIA surveil on China's plans for nuclear tests has long been an open secret in many quarters. So was the unsuccessful effort to retrieve one of the monitoring devices, which was buried by an avalanche, by sending expeditions.
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But BJP's decision to ignite a fresh debate at this juncture is significant because of indications that Congress may double up on its allegation that US president Donald Trump coerced Modi government into agreeing to pause Operation Sindoor.
Dubey linked Nehru government's decision and disapparance of the devices to natural calamities by citing the article which said the untraceable device could be "leaking plutonium into the Ganges.
If this is true, it would be a serious problem, indeed".
Sharing the letter, Dubey asked whether Kedarnath disaster, Teesta River flooding, melting glaciers in Gangotri and Yamunotri, and even decreasing water level of Ganga could be linked to this incident.
"The Nehru-Gandhi family bowed before America. Rahul Gandhi ji, Congress is responsible for the destruction of farmers and played with India's faith..." Dubey posted on X.
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