40 years ago October 15, 1986: PM calls for nuclear moratorium

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on October 15, 1986.

2 min readOct 15, 2026 06:40 AM IST First published on: Oct 15, 2026 at 06:40 AM IST

Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi called for an immediate global moratorium involving all nuclear weapon states. Speaking at a banquet hosted in his honour by Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke, he said the unilateral Soviet moratorium was now more than a year old. Sharing the Indian PM’s concern, Hawke said major powers alone were not arbiters of the world’s destiny and that others also had a constructive role to play.

No arms deal discussed

India scrupulously avoided discussing any military deals or production of weapons systems with the US defence team. The talks were mainly confined to the transfer of technology in wide-ranging items, with India insisting on early absorption of technology offered. There was no discussion of the offer the US Defence Secretary, Caspar Weinberger, had made on his arrival in New Delhi.

Reagan wants talks to resume

The US President, Ronald Reagan, has said that he has renewed the invitation to the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, to visit the US and resume arms control talks they left off in Iceland. President Reagan, however, said there was no indication by Gorbachev as to when or whether he plans to travel to the United States, “as we agreed to last year in Geneva”.

Gorbachev warns the West

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned the West that his country had “everything to answer any challenge”. In an address to the nation in a country-wide television broadcast, he made this observation in reference to Western notions about the Soviet Union not being able to withstand the pressures of the arms race economically.