Premium

Opinion May 8, 1985, Forty Years Ago: Nuclear Inspections

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on May 08, 1985.

May 8, 2025 07:14 AM IST First published on: May 8, 2025 at 07:14 AM IST

Pakistan Foreign Secretary Niaz Naik said his country was willing to sign an agreement with India preventing both countries from making a nuclear bomb. Naik told reporters in Kathmandu that Pakistan would continue with efforts seeking the declaration of South Asia as a nuclear-free zone. He also renewed Pakistan’s offer to open its nuclear installations to India for inspections on a “reciprocal basis”.

Talks On Assam Issue

The government and the leaders of the Assam agitation have resumed their talks to solve the foreign nationals problem in the state, a Home Ministry spokesman said. The talks are once again being held under a veil of secrecy. The agitation leaders, who were previously extremely publicity-conscious, have agreed to the government plea for secrecy for their own reasons.

Boat Capsizes In Kota

About 30 people were feared drowned when a boat capsized in the Chambal River near Bhatt Ghat, according to the police. About 50 people were in the boat when it capsized. Police divers recovered seven bodies and rescued five people. Meanwhile, the death toll in last week’s boat mishap in the same river rose to 33 with the recovery of one more body.

Punjab shooting

At least five unidentified gunmen, believed to be terrorists, shot dead two persons, including the son of a local Congress (I) leader, and injured another at Faujpura village before escaping under the cover of darkness. Some unidentified persons, believed to be extremists, shot dead assistant sub-inspector Gurbachan Singh while he was on duty near the mini-secretariat at Bhatinda, reports PTI from Chandigarh. Curfew was clamped on Dhariwal, 60 miles north of Amritsar, following violent demonstrations by one community against the murders.