PARIS: Revealing the real reason behind the speed with which America and Britain are expanding and reorganising their nuclear capability east of Suez, the American delegation to this week`s NATO Council meeting in Paris is understood to have stated that China is fairly near Hydrogen bomb and in possession of considerably advanced technology. China`s emergence as an advanced nuclear power also prompted the Labour Government`s decision to switch a major part of Britain`s V-bomber force to the Indian Ocean and extend an invitation to Premier Kosygin to visit London in the hope that the Soviet Union may eventually participate in a nuclear umbrella over India.

American disclosures are based on studies carried out by a body in Washington headed by Roswell Gilpatric, former US Deputy Secretary for Defence. British experts have been collaborating with the Gilpatric group. Another source of information on China`s nuclear capability furnished by the American delegation to the NATO Council meeting is Prof Seitaro Nakmura, Tokyo University`s leading nuclear physicist. AngloAmerican plans for nuclear defence were given added urgency by Premier Shastri`s recent visit to London during which he asked for protection against the Chinese nuclear bomb.