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A U.S. lawmaker has released a State Department letter saying the United States would halt nuclear trade with India, if that country tested an atomic bomb.

U.S. Representative Howard Berman made the letter public today (Wednesday), days before a high-ranking U.S. delegation is to travel to Vienna for a meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group on India's nuclear program.

The letter was written nine months ago as a State Department response to a congressional inquiry into the U.S.-India nuclear deal. The letter says India's nuclear fuel supply assurances are not meant to insulate the country against the consequences of a nuclear explosive test or a violation of nonproliferation commitments.

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has repeatedly said that no such conditions would be placed on the nuclear deal.