WASHINGTON: India's nuclear tests in May 1998 caused then US President Bill Clinton to explode into volcanic fury, in part because he had hoped to fulfil his decades-long fascination of India with a visit and greater American engagement. Clinton was still fuming 24 hours after the May 11 tests when he opened an Oval Office meeting on the subject, saying, "We're going to come down on those guys like a ton of bricks," according to a forthcoming book by former Deputy Secretary Strobe Talbott. But officials toned down his reaction before conveying it publicly. When translated into a White House...