The Indian Express’ Front page on April 24, 1979The foreign minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, now in Washington for the joint Indo-US committee meeting, told a public meeting at Maryland University that India could play a bigger role in international affairs — commensurate with its size and population, industrial growth, commitment to democracy at home and its firm faith in peaceful coexistence within the comity of nations. Pakistani students asked Vajpayee about Pakistan’s proposal for a nuclear-free zone in South Asia. Vajpayee replied that India did not accept the suggestion because this wasn’t just a bilateral issue between the two countries, “The entire world should be nuclear-free. Let full scope safeguards be applied to all countries and particularly to weapon countries.”
Congress vs Indira
The Congress today challenged Indira Gandhi’s assertion that her party was the Indian National Congress. In a statement, the Congress Parliamentary Party executive said Mrs Gandhi had declared her organisation the real Indian National Congress to confuse people. The fact that she had now chosen to call her organisation the Indian National Congress was “a recognition of the reality that her organisation was quite distinct and different from the Indian National Congress and that on 2nd January 1978, she actually formed a separate party.” The statement further said, “the illusion that Indira is the Congress is attempted to be revived and carried further to the ridiculous extent that without Indira there can be no India and that she alone is capable of saving India.”
Officers Arrested
Nearly 50 army personnel have been arrested and are facing court martial proceedings on various charges connected with espionage, it has been learnt. Among them are about 20 officers and 30 other ranks, arrested in a series of cases concerning alleged passing of military secrets to Pakistan. Wives of some of the arrested officers were in New Delhi on April 23 to seek from the government an early conclusion of the investigations. Some of them said in a press statement that they would go on a hunger strike near Sena Bhavan on April 24 in support of their demand.
