Cautious Indian optimism about the prospects of improving relations with China is reflected in the annual report of the Ministry of External Affairs. Recalling the talks during the visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister Huang Hua in June last year and the visit of the Indian delegation led by Eric Gonsalves to Beijing in December, the ministry stressed that the boundary question is central to the relationship and an early settlement is desirable. “It is our hope that this dialogue will lead to the settlement of the outstanding problems which will enable full normalisation and further improvement in the ties between the two countries,” the document states. Elsewhere, the report talks of the lack of substantive progress in the border talks.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) considers the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) more authoritarian than Mrs Gandhi, according to Indrajit Gupta who ruled out any alliance between the two parties. He was against the CPM’s move to seek the BJP’s help in the fight against the government because the BJP was more authoritarian in addition to being communal. He said the BJP was not consistently anti-authoritarian in Kerala and in Baghwal by-election it had collaborated with Mrs Indira Gandhi’s party.
Chairman Fatehyab Ali Khan of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy in Pakistan was arrested and authorities said about 20 Opposition leaders were being rounded up. Miraj Mohammad Khan, president of the Left Wing National Liberation Front was placed under house arrest.
