Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai made a statement about Operation High Altitude Test to India's Lok Sabha on April 17, 1978, confirming that the Indian government had sanctioned a joint mission with the CIA to place nuclear-monitoring devices in the Himalayas and that one device had been lost on Nanda Devi.
Notes on verification
Corroborated by primary Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha parliamentary records, a U.S. State Department FRUS historical document, and independent investigative journalism (Caravan magazine). Minor discrepancy: the exact codename 'Operation High Altitude Test' isn't in the original transcript excerpts but appears in secondary sourcing, consistent with classification practices. [cascade flags: wikipedia_dropped_other_sources_exist | tier=silver indep_score=0.838 clusters=4 claim_tier=exceptional | kind=attributed eligibility=high]
Sources
- How the United States Lost a Nuclear Device and Recovered an Indian Friend (seed:military_and_intelligence)
- https://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/river-deep-mountain-high (corroboration)
- https://eparlib.sansad.in/bitstream/123456789/808943/1/pms_md_06_04_17-04-1978.pdf (corroboration)
- https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v19/d100 (corroboration)
- https://rsdebate.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/419790/1/PD_105_18051978_17_p63_p71_12.pdf (corroboration)