My response to Dipak Basu's Sept. 13 letter, "India must continue nuclear tests," is a sad, unenthusiastic yes, because, without nuclear capability, India would be perceived as impotent to defend itself. To enjoy a pre-1945 nonnuclear world is as impossible as returning to a world without electricity.
Despite the certainty that nuclear weapons won't be abandoned, we may continue to hope that the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki persuade national leaders to keep their nuclear brawn under strict control so that terrorists and fanatics cannot realize their vile ambitions. That Japan refuses to have anything to do with such power is commendable.
michael g. driver