New Delhi- Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi discussed world issues and Indo-Soviet relations at an hour-long meeting at Palam airport this morning.
The talks were held at a secured first-floor room attached to the VIP lounge. There was no aide present with either leader barring Mr Kosygin’s language interpreter.
The Soviet Premier, on way to Hanoi leading a high-power Soviet Communist Party and Government delegation to Dr Ho Chi Minh’s funeral, stopped over for an hour, altering his earlier plan to halt in Calcutta for refuelling. Foreign Minister Dinesh Singh was also at the airport, but did not join the talks.
Readily agreeing to newsmen’s request, Mr Kosygin himself gave a brief account of the discussions. He said when Prime Ministers of two “great countries -India and the Soviet Union- meet they have quite a lot to talk about.” On bilateral relations, he said, the two Premiers had come to the “joint conclusion” after the talks that there were progressing in the direction of further strengthening.
The discussions on international questions, he said, covered all those issues which were I “troubling the world.” The talks were “useful, important and necessary,” he added.
Only clue
{{/usCountry}}Only clue
{{/usCountry}}Mr Kosygin did not list the specific subjects discussed at the meeting. Mrs Gandhi took off for Lucknow in a special IAF aircraft within minutes of the Soviet Premier’s departure without leaving a brief even for the officials.
The only clue, therefore, is Mr Kosygin’s description that global issues included those “troubling the world.” These would evidently include Vietnam, West Asia and last but not the least, the, reports on the impending clash of arms between the Soviet Union and China.
According to some observers here, the main significance of the Soviet Premier’s last-minute change of programme for a meeting with Mrs Gandhi lies in the delicate balance Moscow maintains in its relations with India and Pakistan. There are reports of new doubts assailing New Delhi on account of the recent Islamabad announcement on Pakistan President Yahya Khan’s visit to Moscow later this month.
The members of the Soviet delegation, travelling with Mr Kosygin, included Party Secretary Katoshev and the President of the Russian Federation, Mr Yasnov. Also on the plane were two North Vietnamese, including the DRVN Ambassador to Moscow, Mr Nguyen Tho Chan.
Among those who went to Palam airport to greet the Soviet Premier was DRVN Consul-General here, Mr Nguyen Hoa.