regime itself. These representatives were elected by the biggest majority in any free election. “That election cannot be ignored”.
The first gesture the Pakistani military junta ought to make towards a political settlement was to stop the atrocities in Bangladesh and create conditions acceptable to the elected representatives.
Mrs. Gandhi said she failed to understand, why were there should be any confusion over India’s position regarding the posting of U.N. observers, India had provided all facilities for not only the members of the U.N. High Commission for Refugees but also to visiting parliamentarians and journalists from all over the conditions in the refugee camps. It was up to the U. N. to see that conditions were created with Bangladesh which would guarantee the return of refugees. The U. N. could make an approach to India after this was done. At that stage, India could certainly look into the matter. The solution which India had in mind for Bangladesh could not be spelt out in very precise terms. However, a puppet Government set up by the Pakistani rulers in Bangladesh would be no solution.
Mrs. Gandhi answered a number of questions on Sino-Indian relations but no new point emerged from the answers. The Chinese attitude towards India had undergone a gradual change. Mr. Chou En-lai’s favorable reaction to the Indo-Soviet Treaty was not a sudden advance. No reply had been received from Mr. Chou to her letter. There was, however, no reason why India and China could not exchange ambassadors soon. Admitting that there were Chinese troops on the Tibetan border. Mrs. Gandhi said she did not think there was any great concentration. Her discussions with Marshal Tito indicated that the views of India and Yugoslavia on China were “broadly similar”.
In a heated reply to a question on the Indo-Soviet treaty, Mrs. Gandhi maintained that no foreign country could curtail any of India’s options whether in regard to developing nuclear weapons or taking any other action in the country’s national interest. There were no misgivings in the public mind on this score. It was only interested newspapers and political parties that sought to spread rumors. Provocations by these political parties or newspapers would not make any difference to the Government stand. The treaty has strengthened India’s position and had contributed further to Indo-Soviet friendship.
Mrs. Gandhi admitted that the refugee influx had imposed a severe strain on the country’s economy. Even so, the Government was trying to ensure that the Fourth Plan went through. The Finance Minister had already met the Chief Ministers to examine the possibility of raising additional resources. The question of prices was one of demand and supply, and the Government was adopting certain fiscal and other policies which she hoped will make an impact on price.
The Prime Minister described as “one of those typical Press misstatements” that she had set a time limit of six months for the return of the Bangladesh refugees. What she had actually done was to give Parliament an assessment of the financial burden involved over a period of six months because of the refugee influx. India, she said, was facing the
