The delegations, led by Gromyko and P V Narasimha Rao respectively, met for nearly an hour for official talks.

After a series of talks the visiting Soviet foreign minister, Andrei Gromyko, had with Indian leaders in New Delhi, it was clear that the two countries are discussing what steps they can take to defuse the current fraught situation in the region. Gromyko and other members of his delegation met for three hours with PM Indira Gandhi and the foreign minister, P V Narasimha Rao. The delegations, led by Gromyko and Rao respectively, met for nearly an hour for official talks which are to continue tomorrow. It is too early to say whether discussions will include Soviet commitment to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by a particular date.

Indians In UAE

With the deadline for illegal Indian immigrants to quit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) only nine days away, about a thousand of them are leaving for home daily by air or sea. The exodus is expected to gain momentum in the coming days because of the crackdown on illegal immigrants in various parts o f the UAE. Many immigrants are going to Bahrain in the hope of completing travel formalities and returning to the UAE. A large number of such immigrants have gone underground hoping that the rules may be relaxed as had been done in 1977. However, there is no likelihood of the rules being relaxed this time.

Sugar Rush

Hundreds of people rushed to fair price shops as news of levy sugar arrival reached them. There were long queues at shops and people waited for as long as 90 minutes before they could get their quota of sugar. In many areas of the capital, sugar has arrived at the fair price shops after almost four weeks. People failed to draw their quota for the second half of January. A heavy rush of buyers could be seen in Malviya Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Hauz Khas, Chandni Chowk, Karol Bagh and some other areas, and till late in the evening people were relieving their relatives, who had been standing in the queue for hours.