India and the Soviet Union are likely to step up their cooperation in the defence sphere next week when the Defence Minister, P V Narasimha Rao, will lead a high-level delegation to Moscow. Narasimha Rao is leaving for Moscow on March 12. Altogether, he will be in the Soviet Union for five days, having talks with the Soviet Defence Minister, Marshal Sergei Sokolov, and other important Soviet leaders. Official sources here appeared to be attaching considerable importance to the visit in view of New Delhi’s drive to match Pakistan’s latest acquisition of sophisticated weaponry. The last time an Indian defence minister visited Moscow was in October last year, but the then defence minister, S B Chavan, had to cut short his visit because of Indira Gandhi’s assassination.
A mini three-member Cabinet, headed by Ramakrishna Hegde and comprising B Rachiah and Abdul Nazir Sab, was sworn in by the Governor, A N Banerji, on Friday evening, a couple of hours after Hegde was formally elected leader of the new Janata legislature party. For the first time in the history of Karnataka, the swearing-in ceremony was held at the eastern gate of Vidhana Soudha, the seat of power of the state, against the majestic backdrop of the high dome and the stately pillars atop several sprawling steps. This was where the state was renamed Karnataka by the then Chief Minister, Devaraj Urs, way back in 1973.
The Congress (I) is not likely to disturb most of its chief ministers, especially in the states where the party has managed to fare well in the recent assembly elections. The AICC (I) observers, who have gone to the state capitals to supervise the election of the state legislature party leaders, are accordingly being directed to try for maximum consensus for reinstalling the present chief ministers.
