Tilting Back

Gandhi comes as a friend

"It is difficult to imagine two nations more different than ours," said the leader of the ancient country that is the world's most populous democracy. Clad in a silk sari, India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was met on the White House South Lawn last week by the President of the world's most powerful democracy. Her White House visit, highlighted by a glittering state banquet, was part of a whirlwind tour of America intended to reverse a decade of cool relations between the two countries. With a grandeur and grace that was reciprocated by her hosts, the Prime Minister succeeded both symbolically and substantively.

Since Gandhi's last official visit eleven years ago, the U.S. has become increasingly disturbed by India's resolutely independent posture, which was interpreted by Washington as a sign of coziness with the Soviet Union. Gandhi sought to dispel this impression. Said she: "Our hand of friendship is stretched out to all. One friendship does not come in the way of another."

For India, the summit between the two leaders also resolved a longstanding dispute over Washington's refusal to resupply fuel for an American-made atomic power plant near Bombay. Congress forbade such shipments because India did not sign the 1968 nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The Reagan Administration agreed last week to let India buy the necessary fuel from France as long as negotiated safeguards and inspections are honored. In addition, Gandhi has been displeased by Washington's publicized tilt toward India's hostile neighbor Pakistan. The U.S. has offered arms and fighter jets to Pakistan in the wake of the Soviet Union's Afghanistan invasion.

India, which has relied on the Soviet Union for most of its weapons, is trying to diversify its arms sources. It has entered into talks with the Northrop Corp. about being the first overseas customer for the F-5G Tigershark fighter plane and with another American company regarding the possible purchase of up to $1 billion worth of artillery and ammunition. But the purpose of Gandhi's trip was primarily to promote a greater understanding of each country's aims, which, Reagan noted, will bring "a rediscovery of how important we are to one another."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.