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Annual Reports Prior to 1999

Annual Report 1981-82

Contents
Page No. Para No.Line No. Corrections to be made
8 1 2 Read "with" after relations
8 1 3 Read "the" after saw
11 5 1 Read "relations" after India-China
15 1 3 Read "emanating" for "amanating"
17 1 11 Read "Departments" for "Dapartments"
30 3 12 Read "Argentina" for "Agrentina"
31 1 2 Read "an" for "in" before impetus
41 6 4 Read "package" for "packag"
CONTENTS
CHAPTERS Introduction Pages(iii)-(X)
I. India's Neighbours 1-7
II. South-East Asia 8-10
III. East Asia 11-13
IV. West Asia and North Africa 14-16
V. Africa (South of the Sahara) 17-19
VI. Europe 20-26
VII. The Americas 27-31
VIII. United Nations and International Conferences 32-43
IX. Foreign Economic Relations 44-46
X. Policy Planning 47
XI. External Publicity 48-51
XII. Cultural Relations 52-54
XIII. Protocol 55
XIV. Passport, Emigration and Consular Services 56-58
XV. Administration and Organisation 59-60
XVI. Use of Hindi in Official Work 61-62
 APPENDICES 63-87
(i) Introduction

On the eve of India's independence Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who was also its first Minister of External Affairs, told the Constituent Assembly: "An d so we have to labour and to work, and work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for any one of them to imagine that it can live apart. Peace has been said to be indivisible; so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and so also is disaster in this One World that can no longer be split into isolated fragments. " This vision of India's place in the world still beckons to all those concerned with the conduct of foreign affairs.

The basic parameters of India's foreign policy laid down by the Founding Fath ers more than thirty five years ago remain unchanged and have indeed acquired a new rele- vance against the backdrop of a progressively deteriorating external environmen t. These are: to preserve our sovereign independence, maintain the freedom of judg ement and action as the essence of non-alignment, promote international peace and sta bility, reduce world tensions and fashion a more equitable structure of international e conomic cooperation on the basis of justice and fairplay. Rooted in India's traditions of toler- ance, non-violence, secularism and democracy, these goals are but a part of our larger national commitment to self-reliant development in order to provide a better fu ture for our people free from external threats or interference. India's domestic unity, economic strength and a purposeful leadership--invaluable assets in the conduct of any f oreign policy--have again given the nation a fresh confidence to face new dangers that lurk on the horizon beyond our frontiers.

The most important political development of 1981-82 has been the continuing downward slide and rapid deterioration in East-West relations. The structure of peace- ful coexistence laboriously built up piece by piece in the last twenty years is in danger of collapse. Peace, the eternal dream of mankind, has precariously survived by the rather negative consensus of mutual deterrence in the age of instant nuclear an nihila- tion than positively by cooperation and confidence. At the same time a new cold war, triggered by fear, suspicion and mistrust reminiscent of the fifties, has begun to pervade virtually all aspects of international relations and, by vitiating the general security envir- onment, fuels a new wave of nuclear and conventional rearmament. The old strate gic uncertainties, inherent in the doctrines of deterrence and massive retaliation, are being aggravated. New advances in science and technology are also being utilised in i mprov- ing and stockpiling chemical, biological and bacteriological weapons despite in ternational conventions against their use. The same technological development has led to si gni- ficant increases in the modernization, diversification and proliferation of con ventional armaments of the nuclear-weapon powers and other States including some developi ng countries.

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Ironically, despite the massive militarization and accretion of military hard ware by the super powers and their allies the contending alliance systems have been unable to guarantee global security and every effort to improve their respective military positions by escalating the arms race causes further instability. Also, paradoxically, th e very arms intended to assure external security tend to create internal repercussions that affect not only bloc solidarity but have a destablising effect within the individual membe r coun- tries. The decision to deploy more modern missiles has caused new fears in Euro pe and spawned a peace movement that could profoundly affect the future of the reg ion. Also, nationalism continues to assert itself and alliance leaders, unable to co ntain national dissent through conventional means, have to contend with new realities and resort to new techniques to protect what they consider to be their vital securi ty inter- ests. At the same time, the ability of the big powers to control or moderate re gional conflicts--which was an important function of international organization in the immedi- ate post-war years--has been seriously undermined by their rivalries and mistru st.

The epicentre of world tensions has clearly shifted front Europe to Asia. Thi s is evidenced by the frantic build up of military and naval presences in the Ind ian Ocean, search for new allies or bases, formation of rapid deployment forces, the gener al situation in West Asia, the Gulf war between two non-aligned nations, the continuing prob lem in Afghanistan, plans to build up a so-called strategic consensus in South West an d West Asia, including the induction of sophisticated weapons into Pakistan, and the l ingering tensions in South-East Asia. These developments have aggravated the security en viron- ment of India and placed fresh burdens on our economy at a time when the countr y was just beginning to recover from severe inflation and economic stagnation caused by the world energy crisis and other factors.

This dangerous international political environment could be aggravated by the failure of the international community to solve some of the basic problems now afflict- ing the world economy especially the developing countries. The widening dispari ties between developed and developing nations and disequilibrium in the major sector s of world economic system such as trade, tariffs, finance cannot but affect India. We can hardly remain unaffected by growing populations in the developing countries, in ade- quate food production and decreasing natural resources, particularly non-renewa ble fossil fuels. The lack of progress on global negotiations for a New Internation al Eco- nomic Order remains a major cause for concern.

Against this sombre background of worsening political, economic and security environment in Asia, India's foreign policy activity and initiatives were aimed at streng- thening the Non-Aligned, Movement, improvement of relations with neighbours, pr event- ing a drift towards war and big power confrontations, arresting the nuclear arm s race, reducing regional and international tensions and promoting a dialogue towards a new international economic order. The Prime Minister of India, Shrimati Indira Gand hi, devoted considerable attention to foreign affairs and took personal interest in several important issues of national and international concern. Her meetings with world leaders at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference at Melbourne, and at the Cancun Summit as well as in Europe and in India set the tone and direction of I ndia's

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foreign policy activity. The Foreign Minister of India, who was closely associa ted with these deliberations, also visited several important capitals and held talks wit h leaders abroad and also received many of them in New Delhi. The principal thrust of Ind ia's diplomatic activity in the year under review was thus to create greater interna tional awareness of the dangers of big power confrontation in Asia and to safeguard ou r national security and interests through non-alignment and the peaceful resolution of dif ferences. Special attention was given to relations with India's neighbours. In the econom ic sphere India endeavoured to give an impetus and a direction to North-South dial ogue and on global negotiations.

Significant developments have occurred over the last one year in India's rela tions with Pakistan. At the beginning of the year, Prime Minister Shrimati Indira Gan dhi wrote to President Zia-ul-Haq calling for cooperation rather than confrontation and underscoring India's policy and her personal commitment to respect the territor ial inte- grity and sovereign equality of Pakistan. This was followed by the visit to Pak istan of the Minister of External Affairs, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao, in June. Despite the fact that Pakistan intends to acquire highly sophisticated weapons and armaments whi ch could only lead to an arms race in the sub-continent, India expressed her willi ngness to improve relations with Pakistan in the spirit of the Simla Agreement. Initial n egotia- tions for a no-war pact between the two countries were held in New Delhi during the visit of Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Mr. Agha Shahi, in January 1982. A positi ve outcome of this meeting was the agreement to set up a joint commission for the two countries to review and promote bilateral relations. This initiative by India a s well as the Prime Minister's statement that "pact or no pact, India will not attack Pakista n" were well received in Pakistan and other countries. Prime Minister's offer of a Frie ndship Treaty with Pakistan was an important event. The positive atmosphere in India- Pakistan relations created by the discussions between the two Foreign Ministers in January was unhappily vitiated by Pakistan's attempt to raise the Kashmir issue in the UN Human Rights Commission, contrary to the principle of bilateralism enshrined in the Simla Agreement. The visit of the Foreign Secretary, Shri R.D. Sathe, to Is lama- bad, scheduled for early March, had to be deferred.

India has followed an approach of good neighbourly relations and mutuality of interests with Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Burma and Bhutan. The Bangladesh Foreign Minister paid a vist to New Delhi in September 1981. India is committed to search through dialogue acceptable solutions to all outstanding issues between India and Bangladesh. The President, Shri Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, visited Sri Lanka in Feb- ruary 1982. The visit strengthened the traditionally close relations between In dia and Sri Lanka. Earlier in December 1981, the President paid a State visit to Nepal which further cemented the bonds of friendship and cooperation existing between the t wo countries. The President's visit was preceded by the visit of the Minister of E xternal Affairs, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao, who, apart from holding discussion on issues of mutual interest, also visited certain development projects. India's continuing interes t in friendly relations with Burma was manifested by Shri Narasimha Rao's visit to Rangoon.

Government have continued their efforts to further normalise relations with C hina. During the visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister, Mr. Huang Hua, to India, wide -ranging

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discussions were held. It also resulted in agreement that the boundary question was central to the relationship, and an early settlement was desirable. An official delega- tion visited Beijing in December 1981 to discuss this question and other aspect s of bila- teral relations. It is our hope that this dialogue will lead to the settlement of all out- standing problems which will enable full normalisation and further improvement of relations between our two countries.

Relations with Japan, DPRK, ROK and Mongolia were further consolidated during the year.

In the context of India's abiding interest in regional stability and progress , steps taken in regard to regional cooperation in South Asia have great relevance. Ind ia parti- cipated actively at the Colombo and Kathmandu meetings where Foreign Secretarie s of seven South Asia countries adopted ground rules for regional cooperation, de fined its objectives and identified important areas of cooperation. In pursuance of the decision of the New Delhi Conference of Non-Aligned Forei gn Ministers, India played an active role, along with Zambia, Cuba and the PLO to bring about an end to the Iran-Iraq conflict. Though this objective is yet to be achi eved, India has worked towards the formulation of some concrete suggestions which could for m the basis of a just, peaceful and equitable solution to the problem. Similarly, in regard to Afghanistan India has, from the very beginning, calle d for a political settlement through negotiations among the parties concerned on the basis of withdrawal of foreign troops, stoppage of all forms of outside interference and the pre- servation of the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-align ed status of Afghanistan. This approach to the problem has come to be widely recognized a s the only way out of the present situation in Afghanistan.

The deterioration of the international situation as a result of the sharpenin g of great power competition, referred to earlier, manifested itself most acutely an d drama- tically in the Indian Ocean and its littoral States. The United States has main tained its substantial naval presence in the Indian Ocean and augmented its forces in othe r ports, including the conversion of Diego Garcia into a major naval base. The USSR, Fra nce, and Britain stepped up their presences in the region.

India has consistently maintained that this situation in the Indian Ocean has a de- stablising effect and that the presence of one power is bound to attract other great powers, thereby creating a climate of confrontation. Although various grounds, such as assurances of continued oil supplies, maintenance of communications, security a nd regional stability, have been advanced to justify big power military presence i n the Indian Ocean, it is our firm belief that this approach cannot contribute either to sec urity or stability of the region. On the contrary, it tends to aggravate these problems. India and other littoral States of the Indian Ocean have been deeply concerned at the growing build up in this area and have repeatedly called for the Indian Ocean to be tur ned into a Zone of Peace. We continued with our efforts to promote an early convening of a conference of the concerned States in Colombo as a step towards demilitarizatio n of the Indian Ocean. This has not materialised in 1981, as originally scheduled.

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India believes that total nuclear disarmament has become a most urgent task i n view of the perils facing mankind from an escalating nuclear arms race. Lasting peace cannot be built on the fear of nuclear weapons but must rest on the foundations of a general and complete disarmament under effective international control. To be m ean- ingful, non-proliferation of nuclear weapons must cover both horizontal and ver tical proliferation. Any discriminatory approach to this question is not only unjust but also unworkable. We have given expression to these views at the United Nations and o ther international forums on disarmament. It is hoped that the second special sessio n on disarmament will be able to give concrete shape to these objectives.

India continued to attach great importance to developments in West Asia and improvement of our relations with the countries of the region. Apart from parti cipating in the Non-Aligned Ministerial Committee on the Iran-Iraq conflict, India conti nued its individual efforts to defuse the crisis. We strongly condemned the Israeli atta ck on Iraq's nuclear reactor as "stark adventurism, blatant intervention and aggressi on". Israel's highly provocative and aggressive act of annexing the occupied territo ry of Golan Heights was equally strongly condemned by India. Our consistent and princ i- pled support for the Arabs in general and the Palestinians in particular receiv ed favourable notice and appreciation. India's traditionally close relations with Egypt were reconfirmed when President Hosni Mubarak, on assumption of his office foll owing the assassination of the late President Sadat, chose India as the first country to send his Minister of State for Foreign Affairs with a special message. Prime Minister Sh rimati Indira Gandhi's visit to Kuwait and the UAE further promoted India's economic r ela- tions with the Arab world and these two countries in particular.

India consolidated its traditional links with the Countries of South-East Asi a with the exchange of highlevel visits during which a number of steps were taken to f orge closer relations with them in all fields including economic and technical cooperation. Concrete shape has been given to this cooperation with all the countries of South-East A sia, and will be intensified in future. The Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi's visit to Indonesia, Fiji, Tonga, Australia, and the Philippines in September-October, after more th an a decade, contributed significantly to this objective. Foreign Minister Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao paid visits to Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. India did not participate in the international conference on Kampuchea because all the countries of the region h ad not accepted the UN Resolution which formed the basis on which the conference had b een convened. India felt that a conference, which accorded recognition to the inhum an, discredited, Pol Pot regime, would hardly enhance the prospects of normalisatio n within that country. India as a friend of all the parties has been kept fully informed of recent developments. Our discussions have reinforced our view that solutions for the p ro- blems of the region can best be found through a dialogue among the countries of the region.

India reiterated her total and consistent support to the freedom struggle in South Africa and strongly condemned the manoeuvres of the country's racist regime not only to stall the UN Plan for Namibia's independence but also to destablise the fron tline States. While expressing its solidarity with Namibia and the frontline States, India also demonstrated its persistent interest in the economic development of Africa n States.

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Several agreements on technical and economic cooperation were signed with these dur- ing the high level visits exchanged during the year. Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi's visit to France, Italy and Switzerla nd and her exchange of views with the leaders of these countries contributed great ly to a better understanding of India's stand on various international issues. It also helped consolidate India's bilateral economic relations with these and other West Euro pean countries. The arrangements for economic cooperation, concluded with France, in parti- cular, which underscore the latter's readiness to render unfettered assistance in India's economic development, serve as a model of the type of cooperation that could be forged between developed and developing countries. The high point of our intellectual and cultural contact with Europe is the Festival of India in London inaugurated by the Prime Minister during her official visit to the United Kingdom in March. India's trad itionally close ties with East European nations continued apace and were further strength ened during the Prime Minister's visit to Bulgaria and Romania during the year. With regard to the situation in Poland, India has made it clear that India ha s always been and remains opposed to all forms of outside interference in the domestic a ffairs of any country. We are convinced that the problems in Poland can be solved by the people of that country.

As in the past, the Soviet Union showed understanding of the independent poli cy pursued by India, particularly its adherence to non-alignment. The record of fr iend- ship between India and the Soviet Union, despite differences in their political systems, has proved the value of peaceful co-existence and cooperation among countries. The growing technical and scientific cooperation between the two countries was furt her de- monstrated during the year by the launching of the second Indian satellite from a Soviet cosmodrome and by the establishment of a troposcatter link between India and th e Soviet Union.

Since the assumption of office by the new US Administration, India has endea- voured to establish better mutual understanding and appreciation between the tw o countries, specially in view of the differences in perception of the two Govern ments on certain regional and global issues. The meeting between our Prime Minister a nd the US President at Cancun, as also between our Minister of External Affairs an d US Secretary of State, contributed to this process. However, the decision of the R eagan Administration to supply sophisticated arms to Pakistan has aroused widespread appre- hension and concern in India over US attitude to peace and stability in the sub -continent. Another area of disagreement with the USA was the American decision to suspend further shipments of fuel for the Tarapur Atomic Power Station. India continued to develop meaningful, cooperation with the countries of Lati n America and the Caribbean. The Prime Minister's visit to Mexico for the North-S outh Summit facilitated meetings with several Heads of State in this region and furt her consolidated India's economic relations with these countries. India's friendly relations and close cooperation with Canada continued.

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Three summit level conferences, having a bearing on the on-going negotiations for a New International Economic Order, took place in Ottawa, Melbourne and Cancun. Before and during the Ottawa Summit of the major industrialized countries, held in July, India made strenuous efforts at high-level for a constructive approach to the e nsuing Cancun Summit of the rich and poor nations. Again, at the Melbourne meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of State/Government, India attempted to establish areas of understanding with both the developing and developed member-States of the Com- monwealth in the context of the Cancun Summit. At Cancun, the Indian delegation , led by Prime Minister Shrimati Indira Gandhi, actively engaged itself in ensuri ng proper understanding of the realities of inter-dependence. The door was thus left open for further global negotiations though there was no specific commitment towards thi s end on the part of the rich nations. As a follow-up in this direction, India took t he initia- tive to convene a high-level South-South Conference of 44 developing countries with a view to evolving a strategy for greater cooperation among them and as a step to wards the initiation of a dialogue on the new international economic order. The tone of t hese consultations was set by the Prime Minister's nine-point inaugural address for making international cooperation more effective. Our initiative was welcomed by the pa rtici- pants. India holds the view that collective self-reliance among developing coun tries is an important factor in the progress towards North-South cooperation. Alongside such multilateral activities, India pursued its economic and techni cal cooperation on a bilateral plane with greater vigour during the year. The activ ities of the various Joint Commissions already established were stepped up. By far the m ost significant interaction in this direction was with African countries with many of whom economic cooperation agreements were signed and in some cases joint commissions set up.

As an important instrument for promoting international understanding and har- mony, the Ministry gave due importance to cultural interaction. It organized ex change visits of eminent personalities in various fields of specialization, delegation s of perform- ing arts, exhibitions, essay competitions, film shows, etc. On the other hand, as India's interaction with other countries increased in d iverse fields of activities, ranging from economic and technical cooperation to supply of man- power, the Ministry and its regional offices provided greatly enhanced passport and con- sular services to our nationals going abroad. Procedures were streamlined and t he facilities created to give greater satisfaction to Indian nationals as well as foreign con- tracting parties wherever involved.

Compulsions of ever-increasing and complex international activities and trend s have, in turn, necessitated administrative streamlining and reform so as to ena ble the personnel of this Ministry to be equipped and prepared to respond to these new challen- ges and situations in good measure. The Government in the Ministry of External Affairs and its offices in the country and our Missions abroad pursued with vig our and dedication India's policies abroad.

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The coming year promises to be a period of both challenge and opportunity. Th e principal task of our foreign policy, as before, will be to promote our ideals and preserve our interests in a rapidly changing international environment. Among the other impor- tant items on the agenda are strengthening the Non-Aligned Movement, disarmamen t, elimination of the last vestiges of colonialism and racialism and the struggle for a New International Economic Order. India will actively participate in the work of th e forthcoming summit meeting of non-aligned nations. The special session of the U nited Nations General Assembly on Disarmament provides another opportunity to reverse the current alarming trends in the arms race. The continuing obstacles in secur ing the independence of Namibia is a reminder that liberation of Africa is still incomp lete and must be accelerated. We also intend to step up our efforts towards global negot iations.

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TOP

India's Neighbours

CHAPTER I

INDIA'S NEIGHBOURS

India endeavoured its utmost to assist in the political settlement of the Afg han problem on the basis of the preservation of independence, sovereignty, territor ial inte- grity and non-aligned status of Afghanistan. India believes that a stable, non- aligned Afghanistan is an imperative for the maintenance of South Asia as an area of pe ace, free from external pulls and pressures. India's stand on the situation concerning Afghanistan was guided by the follo wing principles:

(i) opposition to all forms of external interference or intervention in the d omestic affairs of the countries of the region;

(ii) opposition to the extension of the quarrels of other countries and the in duc- tion of cold-war tensions into the region;

(iii) respect for the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and the non- aligned status of the countries of the region; and

(iv) preference for a negotiated political solution of problems through dialog ue among the parties concerned. Though there were occasional signs of flexibility in the policies and pronoun ce- ments of the countries involved, no substantive progress was made. Effective projection of India's views on the Afghan situation at various inte rna- tional and bilateral forums, has resulted in a greater appreciation of its posi tion on the question. A commonly shared heritage formed the backdrop against which India and Bangla - desh sought a further consolidation of their relations. As could be expected be tween friendly neighbours, the two countries shared many view points, more so, as mem bers of the Non-Aligned Movement. As in the past, in the period under report as well , a spirit of conciliation and mutual accommodation informed their relations, even in the matter of dealing with the yet unresolved issues such as the implementation of the Land Boundary Agreement, illegal movement across the border, sharing of Ganga waters and the maritime boundary. An example of this was the approach of the two sides to the implementation of the Indo-Bangladesh Agreement of 1977, oil the Sharing of Ganga Waters at Farakka and Augmenting its Flows. Despite the failure to reach a mutually satisfactory solution, it was decided at the ministerial review held i n April 1981, to take "appropriate and adequate measures" at a "high political level", to reach an understanding.

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Over and above the use of diplomatic channels, Indo-Bangladesh consultations and discussions were also carried out during the exchange of visits. The visit of the Minister of External Affairs, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao to Bangladesh, in August 1980, had set the pace for such high level exchanges. This was followed by the visit of the Bangladesh Foreign Minister to India last September. There was a reiteration of the earlier commitment by the two Governments to continue the dialogue, and to sear ch for mutually acceptable solutions to yet unresolved issues. Earlier, in February 19 81, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh had visited New Dew in connection with the N on- Aligned Foreign Ministers' Conference, when he had called on the President, the Prime Minister and the Minister of External Affairs.

The tempo of these useful Indo-Bangladesh exchanges was maintained at the lev el of senior officials of the two countries. Secretary in the Ministry, Shri Eric Gonsalves, visited Dacca in November, to discuss the terms and conditions of lease-in-perp etuity, of an area at Tin Bigha. The occasion of the return visit by the Bangladesh For eign Secretary in January 1982, was availed of by the two sides to discuss the issue relating to New Moore Island, the delimitation of the maritime boundary and the lease te rms of Tin Bigha.

In the field of commercial relations, a significant event was the organisatio n of an Indian Engineering Trade Fair at Dacca, in March 1981, by the Association of th e Indian Engineering Industries in cooperation with the Indian High Commission. The Mini ster of State for Commerce, visited Bangladesh in connection with the Fair. As a result of increased trade and commercial contacts between India and Bang la- desh, the need was felt for an improvement in the telecommunication links betwe en the two countries. A Telecommunications Agreement was signed in May, during the vis it of the Minister of Communications to Dacca.

In the field of Indo-Bangladesh technical cooperation, a Memorandum of Under- standing on Technical Assistance was signed in December, for providing an assis tance of about Rs. 60 lakhs to Bangladesh, for the preparation of project reports, fe asibility studies, exchange of experts and provision of training facilities. A Bangladesh Parliamentary delegation, led by the Speaker, Mr. Mirza Gholam Hafiz, visited India in December, at the invitation of the Speaker of the Lok S abha and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

The year under review saw the unremitting efforts of the Government of India to improve and stabilise relations with Pakistan. Apart from the public statements to that effect, the Prime Minister, in a letter to President Zia of Pakistan, reit erated her personal commitment, as well as that of the Government and the people of India, to respect the territorial integrity, national unity, political independence and s overeign equality of Pakistan. The letter emphasised that, as the interests of India and Pakistan are complementary, the building of harmonious relationships between the two cou ntries would benefit the peoples of India and Pakistan and contribute towards peace an d sta- bility in the sub-continent.

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It was in furtherance of this policy, that the Minister of External Affairs h ad visited Pakistan, in June. This occasion was availed of to convey, again, to the people of Pakis- tan, India's sincere desire to improve bilateral relations. In view of the seri ous concern which Pakistan's move had caused in India, the President and the Foreign Minist er of Pakistan sought to justify the grounds on which Pakistan had entered into a sec urity relationship with the USA and its decision to accept the offer of US arms suppl ies. The Minister of External Affairs, while conceding the right of every country to acq uire arms for self-defence, conveyed, in no uncertain terms, India's grave concern over P akistan's intention to acquire highly sophisticated weapons and offensive aircraft such a s F-16 which would introduce, for the first time, a new level of military sophisticati on into the region thereby heightening tension and triggering off an arms race. India's belief in peace and friendship was embodied in the joint statement issued on 10 June, which declared that "strengthening of friendship between India and Pakistan served th e inte- rests of both peoples and was indeed a geopolitical imperative." In view of Ind ia's justified disquiet over the possibility of the new cold war vitiating Indo-Paki stan relations, the joint press statement noted that "the Simla Agreement rules out the use of force or the threat of use of force between the two countries and provides for peaceful settlement of issues."

Pakistan's anxiety to acquire the most lethal weapons of war far beyond its g enuine security needs and in the shortest possible time, seemed totally at variance wi th the spirit of the Indo-Pakistani joint communique issued during the Minister's visit. This latest US military aid to Pakistan is bound to raise the threshold of confrontation in South Asia and to have a negative impact on the security environment of the region.

Even though Pakistan's proposal for a no-war pact came in the specific contex t of its massive arms purchase from the U.S., India's response was positive. Initial ly, the proposal, if it could be called one at that time, figured in a Pakistan Governm ent state- ment of 15 September, issued in the context of the U.S.-Pakistan arms deal. Whe n, on 22 November, the Pakistan Government forwarded an official note suggesting c on- sultations on this subject, the Minister of External Affairs, in a clear and fo rthright state- ment to both Houses of Parliament on 25 November, reacted positively and said, "we are committed to normalisation of relations with Pakistan as laid down in the S imla Agreement. That means that we settle all our problems by direct bilateral discu ssions without involving third parties".

The Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Agha Shahi, visited New Delhi from ÿ, 19820129 Mi, ster of Pakistan, Mr. Agha Shahi, visited New Delhi from @@19to 1 February 1982 to continue the dialogue on matters of mutual interest to India and Pakistan. The proposal for the conclusion of an agreement on non-aggr es- sion and non-use of force between India and Pakistan was discussed by the two F oreign Ministers. As a result of the exchange of views, the air was sufficiently clear ed to faci- litate specific consideration of the elements which could constitute the substa nce of such an agreement. Besides, the Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi, gave the ass urance that, pact or no pact, India would never attack Pakistan. She also proposed the estab- lishment of a Joint Commission to go into various bilateral issues. The Pakista n side welcomed this proposal. It was decided that an Indian official team would go to Islamabad before the end of February 1982 to continue the dialogue.

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A negative aspect of Indo-Pakistan relations has been the false, and at times , irresponsible coverage given to India in the government-controlled Pakistan med ia, particularly the press. The Prime Minister and her family were special targets of mali- cious items and stories in the Pakistan press. The Government of India has inva riably been protesting about this malicious anti-India tirade in the Pakistan media, f r om time to time.

Despite these negative factors, India has been making every effort to explore con- crete areas of cooperation with Pakistan. These included visits of pilgrims, sp orts and cultural exchanges, and trade and commerce. Pakistan participated in the India Inter- national Trade Fair in November-December.

Another positive factor in Indo-Pak relations, was the promptness with which the Pakistan authorities acted, in arresting the hijackers of an Indian Airline s aircraft, on its flight from NewDelhi to Lahore, on 29 September. The Government of Pakis tan has been requested to return the hijackers to the Indian authorities, but so fa r, it has not been done in spite of the Pakistan President's assurance on it. With Bhutan, India's relations have always been characterised by mutual trust and goodwill. On important regional and international issues, India and Bhutan have similar perceptions. As in the past, the two countries continued to work togeth er for peace and stability in South Asia and for the economic regeneration of the less developed countries, through the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations.

During the year under review the Foreign Minister of Bhutan, Mr. Lyonpo Dawa Tshering, visited India in May, while the Minister of External Affairs, Shri P. V. Nara- simha Rao, paid a goodwill visit to Thimpu in June. From the beginning, India has been able to play a significant role in the eco nomic development of Bhutan. Indian assistance todate, has been of the order of nearl y Rs.150 crores. In recent discussions relating to Bhutan's Fifth Development Pla n, the Government of India has offered to provide assistance worth Rs. 139 crores duri ng 1981-87.

In addition to Plan assistance, the Government of India is constructing a maj or hydroelectric project at Chukha which is expected to be commissioned in 1984-85 and which will produce 336 MW of power. This project is being financed by India on a grant-cum-loan basis in the ratio of 60 and 40 per cent respectively. once co mpleted, it will also supply electricity to the northeast region of India.

A cement factory at Penden with an installed capacity of 300 tonnes per day, or 1 lakh tonnes per annum, has been completed and gifted to the Government of Bhu tan, by the Government of India. The factory has begun production and is already sup ply- ing cement to the Indian-executed Chukha Hydel Project and to India's north-eas t region.

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A lift irrigation scheme at Gaylegphug in southern Bhutan, is nearing complet ion. This has been executed as a turnkey project. The Indo-Bhutan microwave link is pro- gressing satisfactorily. In Bhutan's forthcoming Plan, India will undertake the black- topping of Bhutan's major east-west highway. The setting up of a shortwave broa d- casting station in Bhutan will also be executed in the Fifth Plan period. An Indian team visited Bhutan and carried out a joint preliminary aerial reco n- naissance of the Manas-Sankosh area. It was agreed to undertake a prefeasibilit y study in January 1982.

A decision was taken to set up a national airline for Bhutan, linking Paro wi th Calcutta. The airline will be operated in technical and commercial collaboratio n with the Indian Airlines. It is expected to commence operations in April/May 1982. Apart from providing financial assistance to Bhutan's development plans, Indi a provides technical assistance by sending on deputation, experts in agriculture and fores- try, industries, road building, minerals, geological explorations and communica tions. This flow is complemented by the large number of Bhutanese students who receive higher education in India on scholarships.

India had agreed to receive 1500 Tibetan refugees living in Bhutan. In the fi rst phase, 772 Tibetans have already arrived and have been settled in the State of Karna- taka. The remaining 723 are to be settled in Dehra Dun.

India and Nepal continued their joint efforts for the creation of conditions of peace and harmony in South Asia, so vital for the economic progress of the area . The commonality of outlook of the two countries on many political and socio-economi c problems, based on centuries-old cultural ties and a time-tested friendship, en abled them to surge ahead in the search for peace. Besides, their membership in impor tant international forums like the Non-Aligned Movement, the UN, and the Group of 77 , led to the deepening of their cooperation.

Economic cooperation continued to be a firm basis of Indo-Nepal relations. In the fields of management of water resources, flood forecasting and hydel power genera- tion, all of considerable importance to the two countries, their cooperation re gistered noteworthy progress. The hydel project on the river Karnali at Chisapani in Nep al will, on completion, have a generating capacity of 3600 MW, besides providing c onsi- derable benefits by way of flood control and irrigation. In the field of flood forecasting, a draft agreement has been submitted by the Government of India to the Nepalese Government, for the setting up of hydrological and meteorological stations in t he catch- ment areas of the principal common rivers of the two countries. These stations would provide invaluable assistance in the forecasting of the floods which ravage the down- stream area of UP and Bihar. An updated report on the Kosi High Dam, at Barak- shetra in Nepal was also submitted during the year for the approval of the Gove rnment of Nepal. The Devighat hydel scheme estimated to cost Rs. 40 crores, and one of the most important of the Indo-Nepalese projects, is expected to be fully commissio ned in

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1984. This Indian aided project when completed, would greatly alleviate the pow er shortage in the Kathmandu valley. Preliminary ground-survey work is about to st art on the Pancheswar Project on the Nepal-India border, for which an agreement had been signed in October 1980.

Another important area of Indo-Nepal economic cooperation is the joint work on the Central Sector of the highway which extends from Butwal in the east to N epal- ganj in the west, a total length of 303 Kms. This road is intended to link up t he isolated areas of western Nepal with the more heavily populated and commercially active areas of central and eastern Nepal. New schemes, have been identified for Indian assistance to Nepal. These inclu de the installation of iodized salt plants as an essential measure for goitre cont rol, and the expansion of some of the hospitals.

The work of the Indo-Nepal Joint Technical Level Boundary Committee, went apace. Its first meeting was held at New Delhi in November. It was agreed to se nd Field Inspection Teams to the Indo-Nepal border areas at an early date to ident ify the work required for the maintenance of the border arrangements.

The State visit paid by President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy to Nepal, in December, and the earlier official visit by the Minister of External Affairs in May, epit omized the high water-mark of the political and economic cooperation between the Governmen ts of India and Nepal and the friendship between the people of the two countries. Dur ing his visit, the Minister of the External Affairs visited some of the development al projects undertaken in Nepal with Indian assistance and addressed an ex-servicemen's ral ly at Pokhara. Yet another inportant visit to Nepal during the earlier part of the ye ar, was that of the Minister of Energy, Shri Ghani Khan Choudhury, in connection with t he inauguration ceremonies of the Devighat Hydro-Electric Project

India's relations with Burma continued to be friendly and cordial during the year. To further expand these relations, the Minister of External Affairs visited Bur ma in October, and held discussions with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister of Burma on regional and bilateral issues. Both sides agreed to further enlarge th e area of bilateral cooperation. During the same month, an official commercial delegat ion paid a visit to Burma and identified areas of possible further cooperation betw een the two countries.

The State visit of President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy to Sri Lanka in February 19 82, marked an important stage in the growth of friendship and cooperation between I ndia and Sri Lanka. The President was the chief guest at the celebrations of the 34t h anni- versary of Sri Lanka's independence.

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The visit, and the spontaneous warmth of the reception accorded to him, was e vi- dence of the friendly feelings of the government and the people of Sri Lanka to wards India, besides being a reaffirmation of the close historical and cultural ties which bind the two countries.

There was also exchange of ministerial visits between the two countries. In J une, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha led a Parliamentary delegation to Sri Lanka. The problem of stateless persons of Indian origin in Sri Lanka has been large ly solved through the implementation of the 1964 and 1974 Repatriation Agreements.

The Governments of India and Sri Lanka are in close touch in respect of the res idual problem of statelessness. It is expected, that a comprehensive solution to the problem will be found on the basis of the voluntary choice of the persons concerned

India and Maldives have progressed further towards closer political and econo mic relations. In March, 1981, the Indian Minister of State for Commerce signed an Indo- Maldivian Trade Agreement in Male. Exchange of commodities under this Agreement has begun and it is expected that Indo-Maldivian Trade will grow considerably i n the coming years.

International Airports Authority of India has completed work on the Hulule airport expansion project in Maldives and the newly expanded airport was inaugu rated in November.

Several requests for technical experts including teachers and doctors, were r eceiv- ed and met, and places in Indian educational institutions were made available t o Mal- divian students.

Indo-Iranian relations remained friendly and cordial. The Minister of Externa l Affairs visited Iran in April, May and August, as a member of the Non-Aligned M inis- terial Committee consisting of the Foreign Ministers of Cuba, India, Zambia and the head of the political department of PLO. The Committee was constituted by the Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers Conference held in New Delhi in February 1981, fo r making every effort to put an end to the Iran-Iraq war, within the frame-work o f the principles of the Non-Aligned Movement. Conscious of the dangers stemming from these hostilities, India played an active role in peace-making efforts undertak en by the Non-Aligned Ministerial Committee. Unfortunately, despite sincere, persistent a nd conscientious efforts, the Committee has not yet succeeded in its goal of bring ing the two sides to agree to any solution.

An agricultural delegation from Iran visited India in May-June. The Minister of Housing and Rural Development of Iran, Mr. Mohammed Shahab Gonabadi, visited India in October. Wide ranging talks on industrial and economic coopera tion between the two countries were then held. The Deputy Commerce Minister and General Secretary of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines, Eng i- neer A. N. S. Khamoshi, visited India in November.

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South-East Asia

CHAPTER II

SOUTH-EAST ASIA

During the year under review, India continued to follow its policy of improvi ng and consolidating bilateral relations ith the countries of South-East Asia and the Pacific. The year, therefore, saw th exchange of a large number of important vi sits.

As regards the outstanding Kampuchean issue, India did not participate in the International Conference on Kampuchea held in New York in July 1981. As expecte d, the substantive resolution passed by the UN General Assembly was rejected by th e countries of Indo-China. At the same time, India continued to view positively a ny efforts made by the countries of South-East Asia to establish conditions of dur able peace and cooperation in the region.

The year saw an unprecedented number of high level visits between India and Indonesia. These visits underlined the strong mutual desire to maintain and exp and. the close and friendly relations between the two countries. The Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi, visited Indonesia in September. The President of India paid a St ate visit in December. It will be recalled, that the Indonesian President had visit ed India in 1980. Other visits included those of the Minister of Commerce, in November, and of the Chairman of the Trade Fair Authority of India in May.

From Indonesia, the important visits to India were those of the Indonesian Fo reign Minister, Dr. Mochtar Kusumatmadja, in September; of Mr. Radius Praviro, Minist er of Trade and Cooperatives, in November, and an earlier visit in April by a Parl iamen- tary delegation led by Mr. Kartidjo, Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian Parliamen t.

India and Indonesia have a close identity of views on the need to evolve a ne w international economic order. The two countries, therefore, took a number of st eps to forge closer relations in the field of economic and technical cooperation. T he most important of these was the awarding of a contract to the Project and Equipment Cor- poration of India, worth US $ 70 million, for the expansion of a cement plant i n Pedang.

Ties of friendship and cooperation continued to inform Indo-Malaysian relatio ns. The Minister of External Affairs visited Kuala Lumpur in October, and held disc ussions with the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and th e Minister for Trade and Industry, of Malaysia. To take stock of the existing eco nomic and technical cooperation between the two countries, and to work out a programm e for the future, a delegation at officials' level, led by Secretary in the Ministry of External

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Affairs, Shri Eric Gonsalves, visited Malaysia in December, for the annual bila teral talks and a meeting of the Joint Committee. Earlier, in April, the Minister of Com- merce, Shri Pranab Mukherjee had paid a visit to the country.

The Vice-President of India, Shri Mohammed Hidayatullah, visited Singapore in October. Another important visit was that of the Minister of Industry, Shri N. D. Tiwari, in the same month.

The visit of the Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi, to the Philippines i n October, the first ever by an Indian Prime Minister, highlighted the importance attached by India to South-East Asia. The Prime Minister had wide-ranging discussions wi th President Marcos. As a result of this visit, and the discussion, it is expected , that there will be a further expansion in India's economic cooperation with the Philippine s.

A fairly large Thai, delegation, led by Prince Subhadra Diskul, President of the Siam Society and a noted authority of the history of art, visited India in Febr uary/ March 1981. The Prince visited various sacred Buddhist places. Minister of Stat e for Industry, Dr. Charanjit Chanana, visited Thailand in June.

Economic cooperation continued to be an important basis of India's friendly relations with the Indo-China States. The Vietnamese Vice-Foreign Minister, Mr. Vo Dong Giang, and the Vice-Minister for Foreign Trade, Mr. Dinh Van Tram, visited India in August and November, respectively.

An agreement for a loan of Rs.10 crores for the purchase of textiles by Vietn am from India, was concluded in May. A large number of Vietnamese students are receiving training in various disciplines in Indian institutions.

The Foreign Minister of Kampuchea, Mr. Hun Sen, paid a visit to India in Augu st. In pursuance of a decision to expand areas of economic cooperation between the two countries, an official team of experts, led by the former Agriculture Secretary and Member, Planning Commission, Shri G. V. K. Rao, was sent to Kampuchea and the other Indo-China States in January 1982.

There was a large number of important visits from Australia to India during the year under review: the Governor-General in May and August, on a private and transit visit respectively; the Prime Minister, Mr. Malcolm Fraser, in August; and the Ministers for Industrial Development and Energy, and of Immigration and Ethnic

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Affairs in July and June respectively. The latter came as an emissary of the Au stralian Prime Minister, to invite the Prime Minister of India to participate in the Com mon- wealth Heads of Government Meeting in Melbourne, which the Prime Minister and t he Minister of External Affairs attended in September/October.

Besides, an Australian Parliamentary delegation, the Chief of the Australian Air Force and the former Australian Prime Minister, Mr. Gough Whitlam, visited Indi a. The thirteenth round of Indo-Australian bilateral talks at the level of offic ials was held in New Delhi in November.

In August, an agreement was signed between the civil aviation authorities of India and Australia. It is expected, that this agreement will lead to an increa se in the number of tourists from Australia.

India's relations with New Zealand continued to be cordial. An agreement on forestry, nursery and plantation projects was signed in March 1981. There were con- tacts in the field of sports. The Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi, paid a visit to Fiji, in Septembe r, the first ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to that country.

Shrimati Indira Gandhi was also the first Indian Head of Government to visit Tonga, which she did in September. The tumultuous welcome accorded to the Prime Minister in both these countries, was indicative of their desire for closer rel ations with India.

The President of Nauru, Mr. Hammer DeRoburt visited Delhi in July. Apart from technical discussions with the Minister of Petroleum, Chemicals and Fertil isers, Shri P. C. Sethi, he also exchanged views with the Prime Minister, Shrimati Ind ira Gandhi.

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East Asia

Jan 01, 1981

CHAPTER III

EAST ASIA

In the year under review, the Government maintained its policy of seeking to improve relations with China and to resolve outstanding problems on the basis o f equality and reciprocity.

The Chinese Foreign Minister, Mr. Huang Hua, visited India from 26 to 30 June . The discussions during this visit covered international, regional and bilateral matters. The talks disclosed agreement in some areas and difference of views in a number of others. The free and frank exchange of views helped towards a better understand ing of each other's positions, which would be conducive to improving the climate betwe en the two countries. The Chinese side accepted that the settlement of the boundary pr oblem was important and that this should be done early. It was agreed that officials of the two sides would meet in Beijing in the later part of the year, to discuss all b ilateral matters including the boundary question.

Discussions were, accordingly, held in Beijing from 10 to 14 December, at the Secretary level. The boundary question, cultural exchanges and scientific, tech nical and economic cooperation, were covered. The discussions on the boundary questio n revealed that there continued to be wide differences between the two sides. Thi s had, in fact, been anticipated by the Indian side, which, in any case, had not expec ted subs- tantive progress in the first round, since this was the first time the subject was being discussed in more than 20 years. However, the holding of the meeting, the fact that there was a detailed exchange of views, and that this was done in a very friend ly and cordial atmosphere, was a positive step.

Bilateral exchanges were reviewed during both the above meetings, and India agreed that they should progress in a graduated manner. Business delegations, s ports- men, journalists, academics and intellectuals, and a number of groups sponsored by various international organisations, have been among the visitors exchanged by the two countries.

A major event in India-China relation during the year was the meeting between the Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi, and the Chinese Premier, Mr. Zhao Z iyang, at Cancun, in October. There was a reiteration on both sides, of the desire to improve relations, while recognising that there are major problems to be resolved. Chin a voiced a desire to work more closely with India on international economic matters, par ti- cularly in relation to the North-South and South-South dialogues.

With Japan, the Government has continued, as in the past years, to maintain good relations. Though the annual bilateral talks between the Foreign Ministers could

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not conveniently be scheduled through the year, it is the policy of the Governm ent, to sustain and intensify the dialogue with Japan on bilateral, regional and int ernational questions. While recognising the differences of perception on some internationa l issues, it is evident that both countries have an interest in the stability and security of the region.

Japan is a major trading partner of India and accounts for about 10% of the total volume of India's foreign trade, though trade with India amounts to less than 1% of Japan's foreign trade. Two-way trade between India and Japan reached the lev el of US $ 2 billion. It is the commercial and economic component which is predominan t in Indo-Japanese bilateral relations.

A number of institutions have already been established to further cooperation through periodic meetings. One of them, the India-Japan Study Committee, met in Tokyo in March 1981, for detailed discussions oil international and bilateral i ssues. The 14th joint meeting of the India-Japan Business Cooperation Committee attend ed by leading businessmen and industrialists of both countries, was held in Tokyo in December.

At the Aid India Consortium Meeting, the Government of Japan pledged assistan ce of the value of about Rs. 110 crores to India during fiscal year 1981. During the year under review, the Vice-President of India paid an unofficial visit to Japan. He was received by the Crown Prince. The year also saw visits t o Japan, by the Ministers of Finance, Shipping and Transport, Communications, and the Minister of State for Science and Technology and the Chief Minister of Guja rat. Reciprocal visits from the Japanese side are anticipated. At the Cancun Summit in October, the Prime Minister of India met the Prime Minister of Japan and had a brief discussion on bilateral relations, regional q uestions and the issues before the Cancun Summit.

India maintained friendly relations with both the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and adhered to the policy favouring the peaceful reunification of Korea through direct bilateral negotiat ions between the DPRK and the ROK without any outside interference.

In India's relations with the Republic of Korea, the momentum of growth was maintained particularly, in the trade and economic fields where potential areas of growth have emerged. The Joint Business Council meeting of the Federation of In dian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which met in Seoul in February 1981, recommended that two-way trade s hould expand rapidly and reach a target of US $ 1 billion within three to four years.

The Minister of Commerce led a delegation to Seoul in July, and held detailed discussions with the concerned Ministers of the Government of Korea about stren gth- ening and enlarging trade and economic relations. The Labour Minister of the

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ROK, Mr. Kwon Choong Dong, visited India in December. The Minister of External Affairs met the Foreign Minister of the ROK, in New York in September, and discussed bilateral and other questions of interest to the two sides. India's relations with the DPRK witnessed further growth during the year unde r review. New areas of bilateral cooperation were identified. A DPRK Government delegation led by Vice-Premier, Mr. So Gwan Hi, visited India in January/Februa ry 1981. A protocol on cooperation in agricultural and scientific research, and tr aining of personnel, was signed.

A DPRK Parliamentary delegation led by The Chairman of the Standing Commit- tee of the Supreme People's Assembly, Mr. Hwang Jang Yop, visited India in June . The Cultural Exchange Programme for 1981-82 between India and the DPRK, was signed in Pyongyang in July. The Minister of Education, Shrimati Sheila Kaul, v isited the DPRK in October.

India's relations with the Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) are characterise d by friendship and understanding. A two-member delegation led by the Minister of State for Supply and Rehabilitation, Shri Bhagwat Jha Azad, visited Mongolia in July, to participate in the 60th Anniversary Celebrations of the Mongolian Revo lution.

The First Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Envoy of President Tsedenbal, Mr. D. Yondon, visited India in September, and handed over to the Prime Ministe r, a message from President Tsedenbal containing a proposal for the signing of a C onven- tion on Mutual Non-Aggression and Non-Use of Force in relations between the cou n- tries of Asia and the Pacific.

A programme of cooperation in culture and science for 1981-83 between India and Mongolia, was signed in New Delhi in May. The Minister of External Affairs met the Foreign Minister of Mongolia in Sep- tember, in New York. They discussed bilateral and international issues.

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West Asia And North Africa

Jan 01, 1981

CHAPTER IV

WEST ASIA AND NORTH AFRICA

Against the backdrop of increasing turbulence and tension caused by Israeli a cts of aggression and expansionism, the continuing Iraq-Iran conflict, the growing involve- ment of outside powers in the region and the sharpening intra-Arab differences, India continued its policy of full support for the Arab cause and sought to further d eepen bilateral relations with the countries in the region. The Prime Minister's visits to Kuwait and the U.A. E. in May, reflected the i mpor- tance India attached to the Arab world in general and to the Gulf in particular . Dis- cussions held during these visits revealed a broad similarity of approach to th e prob- lems of the region, particularly the danger posed by the presence of outside po wers in the area. The warm and enthusiastic welcome accorded to the Prime Minister in t hese countries reflected India's very good relations with them. At a meeting of the Indian Heads of Mission in the Gulf region, held at Dubai, the Prime Minister outlined fresh policy guidelines for strengthening bilateral relations and promoting India's n ational interests in the area.

Earlier, in April, the Amir of Bahrain paid a three day visit to India during which an agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation was signed. The process of strengthening relations with the Gulf countries continued at a satisfactory pac e through a regular exchange of visits (U.A,E. Communications Minister to India in Decemb er; Secretary in the Ministry, Shri Romesh Bhandari, to Oman in October etc).

Israel's acts of wanton aggression and belligerence surpassed all limits, whe n it launched a major aerial attack on Southern Lebanon with PLO headquarters as its target. Further, it attacked and destroyed the Iraqi nuclear reactor in June, a nd more re- cently, it passed legislation to annex the Golan Heights captured from Syria in 1967. On all these occasions, India strongly reaffirmed its unqualified condemnation of Israeli actions and policies. The Government of India labelled the Israeli attack on th e Iraqi nuclear reactor as "stark adventurism and blatant intervention and aggression d eserving condemnation". Speaking in Parliament in December, the Minister of External Aff airs decried the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights as "highly provocative and aggres- sive, being a policy of conquest and confrontation which will further aggravate the al- ready tense and indeed, volatile situation in West Asia".

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The unfortunate conflict between Iraq and Iran continued unabated, endangerin g regional peace and security and threatening the solidarity of the Non-Aligned M ove- ment. Conscious of the dangers amanating from continuing hostilities, India pla yed a vital role in the peace-making efforts undertaken by the Non-Aligned Minister ial Committee. As noted elsewhere in this Report, although the committee could not achieve the desired result of bringing the two sides to agree on a compromise s olution, it made clear that its good offices continued to remain available to the two pa rties and that it would be happy to resume its efforts whenever so desired by the parties concerned.

In spite of the consequences of the conflict, India's economic relations with Iraq continued to expand. Some Indian workers, who had left work on projects in the initial phase of hostilities, returned to Iraq and the Iraqi Government awarded a numbe r of new contracts to Indian companies. This raised the total value of Indian projec ts from Rs. 1800 crores at the end of 1980 to over Rs. 2500 crores by December 198 1. Through a continuing exchange of ministerial visits (the Minister of Petroleum, Shri P.C. Sethi, the Minister of Works and Housing, Shri Bhishma Narain Singh, and the Minister of Energy, Shri Ghani Khan Choudhury), the two countries stayed in close touch on all aspects of their relations. Indo-Saudi relations received a major fillip by the visit of the Saudi Foreig n Minis- ter, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, to Delhi in April. The two Governments undertook a very useful and frank exchange of views on several subjects of bilateral intere st. An Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement was signed. It stipulated Inter al ia, the setting up of a Joint Commission. The visit of Prince Talal, brother of Cro wn Prince Fahd and the Special Envoy of the UNICEF, which came soon after the Prim e Minister's meeting with Crown Prince Fahd at Cancun, consolidated the growing g ood- will for India in Saudi Arabia.

The Government of India's decision earlier to raise the PLO representation in India to Embassy status, and the invitation to Chairman Arafat to visit India, and his successful visit, had opened a new chapter in Indo-Arab relations. India contin ued the policy of further cementing its friendly and cordial ties with PLO through a fre- quent exchange of views and visits. India's consistent and principled support f or the Arabs, and the Palestinians in particular, received favourable notice. During a call on the Prime Minister in December, Arab Amabassadors stationed in Delhi express ed appreciation of India's support and friendship.

The assassination of President Sadat which was a blow to Egypt and the region as a whole, also highlighted the precarious nature of the peace in West Asia. I ndia was represented at the funeral by the speaker of Lok Sabha, Dr. Balram Jakhar. The new President, Mr. Hosni Mubarak, chose India as the first country to send his Minis-

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ter of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Boutros Ghali, to deliver a special messa ge for the Prime Minister. Dr. Ghali's visit enabled the two Governments to examine afresh , ways and means to improve their relations. The visit of Secretary in the Minist ry, Shri Romesh Bhandari, to Cairo in December carried this process further.

A Parliamentary delegation led by the Speaker of Lok Sabha Dr. Balram Jakhar visited Syria and Morocco in January 1982.

The President of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, Mr. Ali Nasser Mohamed, accompanied by a high-level delegation, visited India in May. The visi t gave an opportunity for reviewing and further expanding bilateral cooperation. India agreed to increase the quantum of technical assistance to the PDRY and, subsequ ently, an agreement was also signed to grant Rs. one crore credit for development of i ndustry in the PDRY.

Indo-Algerian relations registered further progress and there were many usefu l exchange of visits. The Algerian Minister of Planning visited India in May. An Indian delegation headed by the Minister of State for Industry, Dr. Charanjit C hanana, visited Algeria to further explore possibilities of Industrial cooperation. Alg eria's Transport Minister came to India in October and signed two important agreements concerning cooperation in the fields of shipping and railways. Under the recent ly signed agreement on technical and economic cooperation, the first meeting of th e Joint Commission took place in January 1982.

Relations with Libya were further consolidated. India joined other non-aligne d coun- tries in expressing understanding and support for Libya following the crisis ca used by the shooting incident between US and Libyan fighter planes. Indo-Libyan economi c cooperation strengthened further during the year. There are now more than 50,00 0 Indian experts and workers employed in Libya. Contracts worth more than Rs. 3,0 00 crores have so far been awarded to Indian companies by the Government of Libya.

There were two important visits from Morocco, namely of Mr. Ahmed Osman a former Prime Minister, as the King's special envoy and the Minister of Commer ce and Industry Mr. Azzeddine Guessous. The two countries signed a new Trade Agree - ment and an Agreement on Technical and Economic Cooperation.

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Africa (South of the Sahara)

CHAPTER V

AFRICA (SOUTH OF THE SAHARA) India continued to give moral and material support to the Southern African li bera- tion movements in their fight against colonialism, racialism and apartheid. Bes ides India's abhorrence for all forms of discrimination, support to African liberati on move- ments and independent countries of that continent lies rooted in the strong his torical and emotional links that bind India to Africa. The number of visits by the many heads of state and government of African countries and other dignitaries to India dur ing the year under review, and the visits paid by the President and the Prime Minister of India, as well as other Indian leaders to African countries not to mention the various ag reements concluded, clearly indicated the strong bonds that exist between India and the African states. About 50 delegations from various Ministries/Dapartments/organisations of the Government of India and those of the governments the various African countr ies exchanged visits for further expansion of bilateral relations in industrial tec hnical, and other fields. Approximately 8000 African students continued to receive educatio n in Indian Universities and institutions. Most of them were on self-financing ba sis, and some of them were on various scholarship schemes funded by the Government o f India/International bodies etc. A large number of Indian doctors, teachers, eng ineers, technicians and accountants are working in African countries to assist them in their respective fields,

India's boycott of the racist regime of South Africa remained complete. It ut ilised the UN and other international forums to condemn South Africa's policies of rac ial discrimination. It may be recalled that the New Delhi Declaration of the Foreig n Ministers of Non-Aligned countries in February 1981 had reiterated India's cond emna- tion of the apartheid system. The unprovoked aggression by the racist regime of South Africa against Angola and other Frontline States came in for strong conde mna- tion by the Government of India. In pursuance of the consistent policy of support to African freedom movements , the South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO), the sole and authentic re - presentative of the Namibian people, was granted facilities by the Government o f India to set up a Resident Mission in New Delhi. It would be recalled, that a similar Mission of the African National Congress (S.A.) was established in New Delhi in 1967 wi th the Government of India's help.

The friendly relations between India and Guinea were further strengthened wit h the visit of President Sekou Toure from Mar 17, 1981 to 20 March, 1981. The Gov ernment of

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Guinea sought India's expertise and technical cooperation in the fields of agri culture and small scale industries. A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between the two countries in October/November 1981, at the end of a successful visit to India by the Guinean Minister of Agriculture and Cooperation.

India continued to maintain warm and cordial relations with Tanzania. The Tanzanian President paid a State visit to India from 30 March to 3 April, 1981. India agreed to participate in the development of sugar industry, creation of facilit ies for technical education, development of ports and the establishment of cement indus try in Tanzania.

Prime Minister Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe visited India in May. The visit culminated in the signing of trade, cultural, technical and economic cooperatio n agree- ments. India agreed to extend a credit of Rs. 5 crores to Zimbabwe.

A new dimension to Indo-Zambian relations was added with the visit of Preside nt Neelam Sanjiva Reddy to Zambia in June. During the President's visit, letters w ere exchanged establishing an Indo-Zambian Joint Commission. A protocol on coopera- tion in the field of railways was also signed.

The President of India paid a return visit to Kenya in the first week of June . The visit provided an opportunity for exchange of views with the Government of Kenya. The President's visit was followed by Prime Minister Shrimati Indira Gandhi's o fficial visit to Kenya from 9 to 12 August. She was accompanied by the Minister of Exte rnal Affairs, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao.

Cooperation between India and Nigeria in the ecnomic field progressed satis- factorily. The Indo-Nigerian Joint Commission held its first session in New Del hi in July. Time and again, the Nigerian leaders have expressed appreciation of th e per- formance of Indian public sector enterprises such as the RITES Group attached t o the Nigerian railways. The then Minister of Railways, Shri Kedar Pandey, visite d Nigeria in May.

India's friendly relations with Seychelles were renewed when the Prime Minist er, Shrimati Indira Gandhi, during a transit halt in Seychelles on 9 August en rout e to Kenya, met with the President of Seychelles and discussed international problem s and matters of bilateral interest.

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The President of Botswana, Dr. Q. K. J. Masire, visited India in September. During the visit, an agreement on secondment of personnel and a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in the field of small scale industries were signe d. Similarly, Indo-Madagascar relations, which have been expanding over the year s, had a renewal in the State visit of the President of Madagascar, Mr. Didier Rat siraka, to India from 8 to 11 September. Extensive discussions were held on internation al and bilateral issues.

The bonds of friendship between India and Ghana were strengthened with the visit of Ghana's Head of State to India from 9 to 15 October. Earlier, in March , the Ghanaian Foreign Minister had paid a visit to India to explore the possibilitie s of co- operation in the field of agriculture, small scale industries, etc. During the Ghanaian President's visit, agreements on Trade, culture, Economic and Technical Coopera tion were signed. Agreements for Government-to-Government Credit of Rs. 5 crores, and an IDBI Credit for the same amount, were signed. These credits will be used for developmental purposes in Ghana.

Indo-Ugandan relationship entered a new era of mutual understanding and warmt h after the re-election of Dr. A. Milton Obote as the new President of Uganda in Decem- ber 1980. He paid a State visit to India from 23 to 28 November. During his vis it, an Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation Agreement, a Trade Agreement, a Cultural Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Agriculture, were signed.

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Mar 17, 1981

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Europe

CHAPTER VI

EUROPE

WESTERN EUROPE

With Western Europe which has emerged as an independent entity in world affairs, India's relations continued to grow and develop. Important visits to a nd from Western Europe helped to consolidate further these relations. During the year, the Prime Minister visited France, Italy and Switzerland. The Prime Minister of UK, and the King and Queen of Spain were the distinguished visitors from abroad. Th e Minister of External Affairs paid visits to the UK and the FRG, and received th e Foreign Ministers of France, Spain, Austria and Portugal. Besides, there were also inte nsive contacts between India and the West European countries, in the cultural and sci en- tific fields, both at the governmental and non-official levels. Joint Business Councils have been established between India and some of the countries of the area. Parl ia- mentary delegations from a number of European countries, including a delegation from the European Parliament, visited India.

Western Europe is the most important trading partner of India, and the ten EE C countries account for almost 30% of India's total trade. During the year under re- view, Indo-EEC discussions on a new trade agreement were successfully concluded and a fresh Commercial and Economic Cooperation Agreement was signed in June. The Vice-President of the EEC and Commissioner for External Relations Mr. Wilhe lm Haferkamp visited India in January 1982 to participate in the first meeting of the Indo-EEC Joint Commission under the new Agreement.

Western Europe continued to be an important source of development coopera- tion assistance to India, both multilaterally and bilaterally. The West Europea n coun- tries also accounted for a large proportion of the technical and financial inve stments in India. The major donors were the UK, France, the FRG, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. India is one of the largest recipients of bilateral aid from several of these countries. However, in the case of a few countries, there has been a disquieting trend to offset a decrease in economic aid by seeking to promote their exports to India.

The growing cooperation between India and France received a fillip, after the coming to power of the Socialist government of President Francois Mitterrand. T he independent policies and attitudes of India and France brought them nearer to e ach other, and seemed to provide a framework for closer consultations.

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The Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi, visited France in November. The French Foreign Minister, Mr. Claude Cheysson, had visited India in August for discussions with the Indian leaders. The President of France and the Prime Mini ster of India issued a Joint Declaration on the International political and economic situa- tion. It rejected "the conduct of international relations based on fear, domina nce and arrogance", and stressed the duty of the international community to safegua rd the independence of countries against foreign domination or external interventi on.

Memoranda on Economic Cooperation, relating to coal, environment, power and energy, were signed between the two countries. While in Paris, the Prime Minister took the opportunity to convene a meeting of the Heads of Indian Mission in West Europe. The state of India's relations w ith Western Europe was broadly reviewed, and the Prime Minister issued guidelines f or improving further, India's relations with the countries of this region.

The Prime Minister's visit to Italy was the first ever by an Indian Prime Min ister to that country. The Italian Government announced that in addition to the $20 m illion government credit already committed further credits worth $ 50 million would be offer- ed in each of the next two years. Technical assistance on a grant basis up to $ 10 million was also announced by the Italian side. Substantive discussions were he ld between the two delegations on economic and political questions.

The British Prime Minister, Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, visited India in April 19 81, and had discussions with the Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi, on matters of mutual interest to the two countries. Memoranda of Understanding were signed on trade and certain industries, coal, power, science and technology and space.

In November, the Minister of External Affairs visited UK. He paid a courtesy call on the British Prime Minister. He met the Home Secretary and the Foreign S ec- retary. During the discussions with the Home Secretary, the Minister of Externa l Affairs expressed the hope that the implementation of the Nationality Act and t he Con- nected rules and regulations would ensure the existing rights of Indians settle d in UK. He also reiterated the proposal that the number of vouchers for the UK Passport Holders coming from East Africa should be raised, and special efforts made to prevent t he members of families from being separated.

A Festival of India, a joint venture by India and the UK, will be inaugurated in the UK by the Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi in March 1982. The Minister of External Affairs, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao, visited Bonn in November to inaugurate a well-documented and well-attended exhibition on the "Life and Time of Nehru". He addressed the Foreign Policy Association on "Non-

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Alignment Today". He emphasised the importance of non-alignment and the signi- ficance of independent thinking by nations, for promoting peace and good relati ons among the world community. During this stay, the Minister called on the FRG Pre - sident, Mr. Carstens, and had consultations with the Foreign Minister, Mr. Gens cher.

To honour the work and memory of the great Indologist, Prof. F. Max Mueller, an important street in New Delhi was named as "Max Mueller Marg". The cere- mony, held on 14 December, was attended by the Economics Minister of the FRG, Count Lambsdorf, and the Minister of External Affairs, Shri Narasimha Rao.

India continued to be the largest recipient of West German assistance, receiv ing approximately Rs. 144 crores per year. The FRG's assistance to India is covered under broad heads such as debt relief, commodities, capital goods, development banks, projects and rural development programmes. West German investment in India is also considerable and the FRG ranked third in technical collaboration with Indi a, after the USA and the UK.

The Foreign Secretary of Denmark visited India in October and held cousulta- tions with the Foreign Secretary, Shri R. D. Sathe. The Danish Foreign Secretar y emphasised Denmark's role as a bridge between the EEC and the Nordic countries. Denmark is one of the few countries which has reached the goal or giving 1% of its GNP as assistance to the developing countries.

Indo-Dutch relations in various fields continued to develop well. Efforts are continuing in both countries to follow up on the results of the important visit of Prince Claus to India in February 1981. The Netherlands has a commendable record in de ve- lopment cooperation. India was the largest recipient of Dutch economic assistan ce and in 1980-81, received about Rs. 92 crores.

The Portuguese Foreign Minister visited India in October/November, and had consultations with the Minister of External Affairs. Both sides expressed the d esire to develop closer relations in the years to come. The visiting Minister announced the Portuguese Government's decision to open a Cultural Centre in New Delhi.

The Foreign Secretary, Shri R.D. Sathe, visited Spain in February 1981, to re turn the visit of the Spanish Secretary of State to India last year. The King and th e Queen of Spain, along with the Spanish Foreign Minister, paid a State visit to India in January 1982. The King was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations. He met the President, the Vice-President and the Prime Minister. The Spanish Foreign Minis ter had discussions with the Minister of External Affairs.

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The Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi, had a meeting with the President of Cyprus during a technical stopover at Nicosia. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha, paid a visit to Cyprus.

The Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria, Dr. Willibald Pahr. paid a visit to India in March 1981. He called on the President, the Vice-President an d the Prime Minister, and had talks with the Minister of External Affairs. Discussion s were also held for promoting cultural and economic relations between the two co untries. Earlier, in February 1981, the Foreign Secretary, Shri R.D. Sathe, had visited Vienna for bilateral talks with the Austrian Foreign Office,

Having signed an Agreement on Technical and Economic Cooperation with India last year, Norway continued to provide financial and technical assistance in th e shape of consultants, ancillary equipment and commodity assistance. Norway's indicati ve planning figures for grant assistance to India in 1981 were of the order of Rs. 11 crores. The Norwegian technical assistance programme has three main components: Project Assistance such as boat building programme, equipment for fishing etc.; Program me Assistance including post-natal programme in the family welfare sector; and Commodity Assistance such as fertilizers, paper etc.

During the year, the Turkish Government and the people celebrated the 100th a nni- versary of the birth of Kamal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. To mark th is occasion, and to study the achievements of the two great modern and secular lea ders, seminars were held on the life and work of Ataturk and Jawaharlal Nehru, in Del hi and in Ankara.

THE USSR AND EASTERN EUROPE

India's relations with the Soviet Union and other countries of Eastern Europe have been marked by cordiality and a frequent exchange of high level visits. Th e high- lights of the year under review were the visits of the Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi, to Romania and Bulgaria, and that of the Minister of External Affairs t o the Soviet Union. The economic exchanges were also more intense, and made notable progress.

The year witnessed an intensified exchange of economic delegations and consul - tations between India and the Soviet Union. The Minister of External Affairs pa id a one-day working visit to Moscow in July and had detailed discussions with the S oviet Foreign Minister. The Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Firyubin, visited Ind ia in August. Another important visit was that of the Soviet Vice-President, Mr. Kuzn etsov

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who came here in December, at the head of a Parliamentary delegation. During hi s stay in Delhi he had a wide exchange of views with Indian leaders, including ca lls on the Prime Minister and the Minister of External Affairs. He brought a message from President Brezhnev for the Prime Minister, outlining the approach of the Soviet leader- ship to current international issues, including President Brezhnev's discussion s with some world leaders.

Indo-USSR trade and economic relations expanded further during the period under review, both sides working in close cooperation for realising the objecti ves set out in the Long-term Programme of Economic, Trade, Scientific and Technical Coopera tion of Mar 14, 1979. The overall trade turnover, as a result of the realisation of the trade plan targets, is expected to be about Rs. 2,200 to Rs. 2,400 crores this year m aking the Soviet Union India's single biggest trading partner.

The Indo-Soviet Planning Group had its fifth meeting in New Delhi in March 19 81. The Soviet Minister for Coal Industry and the Minister for Meat and Dairy Dev e- lopment, visited India in April 1981. The visit of the Soviet Minister for Oil Industry, in November was a very use ful one. A protocol on further cooperation in this field, was signed which concreti ses specific sectors in which the Soviet Union will assist India, and the areas whe re it would undertake on-shore oil drilling operations.

The Soviet Minister for Non-Ferrous Metallurgy visited India in January 1982, mainly to take part in the inaugural function of the Cold Rolling Mill of the B harat Aluminium Company at Korba. This visit was also utilised by both sides to discu ss measures to further expand cooperation between the two countries in the field o f non- ferrous metallurgy, particularly relating to financial and technical aspects of the projected alumina plant in Andhra Pradesh.

The other important Soviet visitors to India were, the Soviet Army Chief, Mar shal Ogarkov, and the Soviet Navy Chief, Admiral Gorshkov.

The Ministers of Shipping and Transport, Energy, Commerce, Steel and Mines, and Law, Justice and Company Affairs, visited the Soviet Union. The Minister of Supply and Rehabilitation, the Deputy Minister of Information and Broadcasting, and the Chief Justice of India, were the other important dignitaries who visited th e USSR.

India also played host to a delegation led by the Vice-Chairman of the Suprem e Soviet of the USSR and President of the Turkmenian S.S.R., Mr. Balli Yazkulier. The visit was in response to an invitation by the Friends of the Soviet Union a nd the Indo-Soviet Cultural Society.

Indo-Bulgarian relations received a fresh impetus with the visit of the Prime Minister to Bulgaria in November. Shrimati Indira Gandhi was received with grea t warmth and enthusiasm both by the leadership and the people of that country. Sh e had wide-ranging discussions with the Bulgarian President, Mr. Zhivkov, on bila teral

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matters and current international issues. The Prime Minister's observations reg arding the situation in South Asia were received with full understanding and support.

The Prime Minister signed with President Zhivkov, a Joint Indo-Bulgarian Dec- laration, expressing the views of the two countries on major international and bilateral matters. On the economic side, the two sides expressed their resolve to further expand co- operation between the two countries corresponding to all possibilities offered by the economic, scientific and technological potential of the two countries on the ba sis of planning, long-term stability, diversification and balanced growth. The new for ms of cooperation including joint ventures as well as specific areas in which such jo int ventures are possible, were discussed. Bulgarian officials noted with understanding Indi a's re- quirements for petroleum products. They agreed that all efforts would be made t o diversify imports from India, to include engineering items like textile machine ry, earth- moving equipment, heavy-duty cranes, metallurgical equipment and electronic com po- nents.

Apart from the Prime Minister's visit, several other bilateral visits took pl ace bet- ween India and Bulgaria. The then Minister of Education, Shri S.B. Chavan; Mini ster of State for Education, Culture and Social Welfare, Shrimati Shiela Kaul; and t he then Deputy Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Kumari Kumudben Joshi, visite d Bulgaria. During the last mentioned visit, a comprehensive programme on coopera tion between Doordarshan and Bulgarian T.V. as well as All India Radio, and Bulgaria n Radio, was signed. There were also visits by various parliamentary figures.

The Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Trade, Mr. Hristo Hristov, visited India in March 1981, and signed a Protocol for increasing trade exchanges between the tw o coun- tries. The Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bulgaria, Mr. Georgi Yordanov, came in December. Member of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party and Minister of National Education of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, Prof. Alexender Fol visited India during January-February 1982. He held discussions with Indian academicians, for joint research on ancient Bul garian and Indian culture.

Indo-Romanian relations became closer as a result of the Prime Minister's vis it to Romania in October. She was received with great cordiality, and her talks wi th President Ceausescu were characterised by a close understanding of each other's posi- tions on international issues.

In the field of bilateral economic cooperation, the discussions at the offici al level covered a broad spectrum, and areas of further growth and cooperation such as p etro- chemicals, chemicals, oil exploration and ship building, were identified, keepi ng clearly in view the country's economic requirements. The need for exporting more engine ering goods from India to Romania for balancing bilateral trade, was emphasised. There was a visit by a Romanian Parliamentary delegation to India, in May. The delegation had meetings with the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the Chairman of the

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Rajya Sabha, and the Minister of Commerce. Besides, normal economic and politic al exchanges were continued.

With Hungary, exchange of various political economic and cultural delegations took place. The Minister of State for Irrigation, paid a visit to Hungary in Ju ly, and discussed matters concerning collaboration in water management. The Hungari an Minister for Foreign Trade, came to India on an official visit in October, and had dis- cussions with the Ministers of Commerce and Steel and Mines. The Minister of St ate for Education and Culture, was in Hungary in September, and had a meeting with her counterpart as well as with the Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister.

The Indo-Czech Long-term Trade Plan for 1982-85, was signed in Prague in June . This provides for the doubling of trade exchanges by the two countries by 1985, and for a step-up in Indian exports of non-traditional items. The Czechoslovak Minister of Metallurgy Mr. Eduard Saul, visited India in January 1982, to negotiate certain areas of industrial collaboration. He called on the Prime Minister, and had detailed discussions with the Ministers of Industry, Steel and Mines.

Indo-Yugoslav relations have always been close, and the two countries share m any perspectives on international affairs. Yugoslavia's activity in non-aligned for ums pro- vided many occasions for close cooperation. The Yugoslav Foreign Minister visit ed India, as leader of the Yugoslav delegation to the Non-Aligned Foreign Minister s' Conference in February 1981. He met the Minister of External Affairs and called on the Prime Minister. An important visitor from Yugoslavia was, the Prime Ministe r of the Serbian Republic Mr. Ivan Stambolic. He met the Prime Minister, and othe r high Indian dignitaries. The GDR Defence Minister, Gen. Heinz Hoffmann, was on an unofficial visit to India in January 1982, during the course of which, he called on the Prime Minis ter, and had an exchange of views on matters of mutual interest. He also handed over to her, a message from the GDR President, Mr. Erich Honecker, outlining his percep tion of a current international problems as well as an assessment of his discussions with some world leaders. He also called on the Defence Minister and had discussions with other officials. Trade and industrial cooperation between India and the GDR, progressed further during the period under review. Prime Minister Gen. Jaruzelski of Poland sent a message to the Prime Minister , Shrimati Indira Gandhi, explaining internal developments in Poland. Trade and economic cooperation between the two countries continued during the period under review. The Annual Trade Plan for 1982 has been finalised. India h as extended to Poland, a technical credit of Rs. 18 crore valid upto June 1982, in addition to a similar sum provided for, in the Annual Trade Plan.

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Mar 14, 1979

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The Americas

Jan 01, 1981

CHAPTER VII

THE AMERICAS

NORTH AMERICA

The first year after the assumption of office by the new Administration in th e United States witnessed serious effort by India to start a dialogue with it. This bila teral ex- change of views acquired particular significance in view of the differences in perception of the two Governments on certain regional and global issues. However, despite the se dif- ferences, India endeavoured to further strengthen mutually beneficial relations with the United States, as it recognised that both countries had a stake in the stabilit y of the re- gion in and around the Indian subcontinent. To this end, opportunities which co uld lead to a better understanding of each other's positions on economic and politi cal ques- tions were naturally welcomed by India.

The meeting between the Prime Minister and the US President at the Cancun Summit on the North-South dialogue, in October, was an important event in Indo- US relations during the year. The discussion between the two leaders touched on th e consequences of the US decision to supply sophisticated arms to Pakistan. Both before and after the summit, the two leaders had exchanged correspondence relating to matters of mutual concern.

Discussions were held between the Minister of External Affairs, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao, and the Secretary of State, Mr. Alexander Haig, when they met at Cancun in August 1981, at the preliminary talks before the summit on the North- South dialogue.

The two other notable visits to the USA were those of the Vice-President, Shr i M. Hidayatullah, in October, and the Lok Sabha Speaker, Dr. Balram Jakhar, in September. From the United States, the Permanent US Representative to the United Nations , Mrs. J. Kirkpatrick, visited India in August. She held talks with the Minister of Exter- nal Affairs, and called on the Prime Minister. The Counsellor in the State Depa rt- ment, Mr. Robert McFarlane also visited India in September. A delegation led by Mr. Melvin Price, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee of the House of Repr e- sentatives, and another led by Representative Clarence Long, Chairman, Sub-Comm ittee on Foreign Operations of the House of Representatives, visited India in January and August 1981 respectively.

The US decision to supply sophisticated arms to Pakistan ostensibly as a reac tion to the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, aroused apprehensions in India. In t he past, India had more than once been a victim of Pakistani aggression. The possibility of the

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introduction of a new generation of armaments into the sub-continent, heightene d the fears based on past experience. The concern of the Government of India about th e US decision was, therefore, conveyed adequately to the United States at various le vels but unfortunately without result. It was made clear, that while India had no object ion to Pakistan acquiring armaments for defensive purposes, the nature of arms which t he United States was considering supplying to Pakistan, was essentially offensive. The US justification for its decision was, that Pakistan had now become a front-lin e State against the Soviet Union, a dubious distinction, which Pakistan declined to acc ept openly. The US Administration also argued, that the projected military assistan ce to Pakistan would not upset the supposed superiority which India enjoyed in milita ry terms over Pakistan. But it was pointed out to the United States, that such an assess- ment had no basis in reality since without the introduction of American arms in

the region, Indian and Pakistani force levels on their Common frontier were approxi mately at par in quantum as well as in terms of sophistication. The passage of the pro posals on the security assistance to Pakistan through the US Congress which confirmed the Administration's decision, cast a shadow over bilateral relations which showed no signs of lifting at the year end.

The other issue of controversy between India and the United States was the US decision to suspend shipments of fuel for the Tarapur Atomic Power Station in v iola- tion of the 1963 Agreement between the two states. At the beginning of the year , India formally asked the United States, for assurances of continued supply of fuel, w hich however, were not forthcoming. At the initiative of the United States, three ro unds of official level talks were held in April, July and November alternately at Washi ngton and Delhi, in an attempt to resolve differences amicably and bring about if nec essary, a mutually acceptable termination of the existing arrangements. At these talks, India was represented by the Principal Secretary in the Department of Atomic En ergy, Shri H.N. Sethna, and Secretary in the Ministry, Shri Eric Gonsalves. The US de le- gation was led by Assistant Secretary, Mr. James Malone. At the end of the thir d round of official discussions, the Indian delegation presented a report on the talks which is now under consideration by the Government.

The annual session of the Indo-US Joint Commission scheduled to take place in New Delhi in December, was postponed at the instance of the US Government becau se of developments in Poland. The Sub-Commission on Education and Culture of the Indo-US Joint Commission met at Philadelphia in March 1981, under the co-chairm an- ship of Shri G. Parthasarathy and Dr. Franklin Long. The Sub-Commission on Scie nce and Technology held its annual meeting in December in New Delhi and was co-chai red by Prof. M.G.K. Menon and Dr. Roger Revelle. The Economic and Commercial Sub- Commission which was unable to meet as scheduled in 1981, is likely to do so in February 1982.

The friendly relations between India and Canada were further strengthened during the year which provided an opportunity to exchange and understand each o ther's

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views on major bilateral and international issues in greater depth. The Prime M inister met the Canadian Prime Minister at Nairobi, in Melbourne at the meeting of the Com- monwealth Heads of Government and again, during the Cancun Summit in October.

The Vice-President of India visited Canada in October. Earlier, the Lok Sabha Speaker, Dr. Balram Jakhar, attended the 6th Conference of Speakers and Presidi ng Officers of the Commonwealth Parliament in April 1981.

The Canadian Minister for Immigration and Manpower, Mr. Lloyd Axworthy, visited India in September-October. He held talks with the Home Minister, the Minister for industry and Labour, and with the officials of the External Affair s Ministry. The Canadian Minister of State for Trade in the Department of Industry, Trade a nd Commerce, Mr. Edward Lumley, visited India in February 1981.

In accordance with established practice, India and Canada held talks at the officials' level in New Delhi during which the two sides exchanged opinions on a number of issues both in the bilateral and in the multilateral fields.

SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICAS AND THE CARIBBEAN

In the first few years after independence, India's contacts with the countrie s of Latin America and the Caribbean were rather minimal. There was not much com- mon ground politically or economically and the Latin American states tended to confine their attention more to their region and its immediate periphery. Howev er in course of time, with the increasing political awareness in these countries c oupled with the availability of greater international opportunities for forging politi cal and economic ties with other independent developing countries, the perspective bega n to change for the countries of the area.

Sensing the changing social and political mood in the Latin and Central Ameri cas and the Caribbean, India readily extended its hand of friendship. As a result, the relations between India and these countries which were somewhat formal to start with underwent a sea-change to reach the present level of friendship, cordialit y and mutual respect.

Today, India's multifaceted relationship with these countries is based on cer tain shared perceptions among which are non-alignment as an approach to world peace, the need for unity and cooperation among the developing countries in a fast det erio- rating world political and economic climate, and the necessity to prevent confl icting in- terests of the big powers from interfering with their political and economic de velopment. Through the Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of 77, India and these countries have jointly been able to make their voice heard in important international for ums, particularly the UN and the North-South dialogue. Besides, India with the third largest trained manpower in the world has been in an advantageous position to m eet

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the increasing requirements of professional and technical services in several o f these countries, particularly in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Jamaica, Bra zil and Panama.

The growing political and economic relationship between India and the Latin American states was also reflected in the number of visits exchanged at various levels. The Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi, during her stay at Cancun for the N orth- South Summit in October, was able to meet and renew contacts with many heads of government of the countries of that region. Earlier, in May, the Minister of Ex ternal Affairs, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao, participated in the International Conference on Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries, held in Venezuela. In Septem- ber, the Minister of State for Energy, Shri Vikram Mahajan, represented the Pri me Minister at the independence celebrations of the erstwhile British colony of Be lize. A Parliamentary delegation led by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, visited Cuba.

In the economic field, the visit of the Minister of Commerce to Argentina in July to preside over the conference of the Indian commercial representatives in Latin America, was significant. He also held bilateral talks with the Argentini an authorities and a trade agreement was signed. With a view to further strengthen ing commercial ties between India and the Latin American states, a delegation of th e Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry led by its President visited Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. The study conducted by this delegation, as well as the survey carried out by the various Department s of the Government of India indicated scope for a considerable expansion of trade. India also sought to encourage the participation of the Latin American states in the India International Trade Fair held in New Delhi in November-December. For this purpo se, Chairman of the Trade Fair Authority of India, Shri Mohammed Yunus visited Agre n- tina, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela as a special envoy of the Prime Minister.

India's close relations with Cuba were reaffirmed during the year. Besides attending the Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers' Conference in New Delhi in Februar y 1981, the Cuban Foreign Minister visited India many times, as one of the four-m ember team designated by the Non-Aligned Conference to act as mediator in the Iran-Ir aq conflict. The Cuban Vice-Minister of Public Health paid a visit in June.

Another important visit to India during the earlier part of the year was that of the Vice-President of Guyana, Mr Shiv Naraine in February 1981. Guyana parti - cipated in the India International Trade Fair. The commercial and economic relations between India and Mexico are expected to be further strengthened after the signature in the near future, of an agreem ent on

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technical, economic and scientific cooperation. The visit of the Mexican Presid ent in January 1981, had given in impetus to the growing cooperation between the two countries.

India's relations with Venezuela in the political and economic spheres have s een an upsurge in the recent years. The Minister of External Affairs had visited th at country in April 1980 as a result of which an important oil agreement had been signed i n January 1981. In a recent bilateral review, the contract for the supply of oil to India was extended till December 1982. In the political sphere, the visit of the Vene zuelan Foreign Minister in July and the State visit of the President of Venezuela in N ovember, were significant.

During the year under review, Parliamentary delegations from Colombia, Ecuado r and Brazil, visited India.

The Indo-Argentinian agreement of 1974 on the peaceful utilisation of atomic energy was ratified by India in April 1981. The Government of India has conveye d to the Government of Brazil its interest in concluding an agreement on scientif ic and technical cooperation. It has agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding on economic, technical and scientific cooperation with the Government of Trinidad & Tobago, as suggested by the latter.

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1981

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United Nations and International Conferences

CHAPTER VIII

UNITED NATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

India played host to the Conference of Foreign Ministers of Non-Aligned Count ries held in New Delhi from 9 to 13 February. It also participated in a number of ot her important conferences. Reflecting the growing concern of the international comm unity over the situation in Southern Africa, a number of these conferences were relat ed to the questions of Namibia and the policies of apartheid of the Government of Sou th Africa. These were, the resumed sitting of the 35th Session of the UN General A ssembly from 2 to 7 March; the Ministerial Meeting of the Co-ordinating Bureau of Non-A ligned Countries at Algiers from 16 to 18 April; the International Conference on Sanct ions against South Africa in Paris from 20 to 27 May and the Eighth Emergency Specia l Session of the UN General Assembly from 3 to 14 September. Other important conferences in which India participated were, the UN Conferen ce on New and Renewable Sources of Energy in Nairobi from 20 to 21 August; the UN Conference on Least Developed Countries in Paris from 1 to 14 September; and th e Summit Meeting at Cancun (Mexico) on 22 and 23 October. India participated in the meeting of the Heads of Government of the Common- wealth countries held at Melbourne from 30 September to 7 October. Non-Aligned Conference/Meetings The Conference of Foreign Ministers of Non-Aligned countries was held in New Delhi from 9 to 13 February. It was attended by 93 member countries. While 15 countries and organisations took part in the Conference as observers, another 2 2 attended as guests. The Conference was inaugurated by the Prime Minister, Shrimati Indir a Gandhi. Welcoming the delegates, the Prime Minister said: "The realities of the world situation--the possibility of a nuclear armageddon by a single lapse or rash ac t-reinforce the relevance of non-alignment and demand rededication to peace. From this Con- ference should issue a call to the big powers to de-escalate belligerent rhetor ic, to reduce presence in the Indian Ocean and in the various parts of Asia and Africa , and to resume the earnest search for understanding and peace." The inspiring inaugu ral address of the Prime Minister was widely acclaimed as a significant contributio n to the deliberations and the successful outcome of the Conference. The Minister of Ext ernal Affairs, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao, was elected Chairman of the Conference by acc la- mation.

The Foreign Ministers welcomed the admission of St. Lucia as a full member of the Non-Aligned Movement as well as the participation of the Republic of Zimbab we for the first time, as a fully independent and sovereign nation.

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A special commemorative session was convened during the Conference on 11 February to celebrate the Twentieth Anniversary of the First Summit Conference of Non-Aligned countries held in Belgrade in 1961. Addressing the session, the Pri me Minister said : "The renewal of assertive animosity between great powers, the c ompetition of military presence in various parts of the globe, particularly in West, South and South- East Asia, the vertical increase in the stockpiles of nuclear weapon powers, th e neglect of economic development and unfair practice in international trade--all these p roject new problems to challenge and justify our own endeavours. Our obligation is to exercise our independent judgment, to individually build self-reliance and collectively resist moves to divide us". The session received messages from the Heads of State or G overn- ment of a number of countries. The session also heard an address by the then Se cretary- General of the United Nations, Dr. Kurt Waldheim. The session adopted, by accla - mation, an Appeal and a Resolution recommending the governments of all non- aligned countries to institute during 1981, appropriate programmes for celebrat ing the historic anniversary at the national level and decided to proclaim 1 September as the Day of Non-Alignment and recommended its annual observance.

The Conference adopted a Final Declaration containing a political part and an economic part as well as an Action Programme for Economic Cooperation. As host country and Chairman of the Conference, India made strenuous and successful eff orts at achieving the largest possible measure of consensus on various issues before the Con- ference, thus preserving, if not enhancing, the unity and strength of the Movem ent.

The New Delhi Declaration encompassed important political and economic issues like the Role of the Movement and Policy of Non-Alignment, Review of the Intern a- tional situation, Indian Ocean, Southern Africa, Middle East, Afghanistan and t he Iran-Iraq conflict, an Assessment of the World Economic Situation and the Estab lish- merit of the New International Economic Order. Vital issues such as energy, mon ey and finance, food and agriculture, science and technology and trade also figure d in the Declaration. Efforts to implement the Action Programme for economic cooperation among non-aligned and other developing countries and measures to promote collec - tive self-reliance and mutual economic development were stressed. As Chairman o f the, Conference, India was credited with conducting it in an objective and non- partisan manner.

In pursuance of the decision taken at the New Delhi Conference of Foreign Min is- ters of Non-Aligned countries, an extraordinary Ministerial Meeting of the Coor di- nating Bureau of Non-Aligned countries was held in Algiers from 16 to 18 April, to con - sider the question of Namibia. The meeting was attended by all the 34 members o f the Coordinating Bureau along with 42 other non-aligned countries. The Indian d ele- gation was led by the Minister of External Affairs. The final communique adopte d at the Algiers meeting rejected attempts by certain Western powers to modify or dilute the elements contained in the UN plan. It reiterated support for the armed stru ggle being waged by SWAPO against South Africa's illegal occupation of Namibia. The Minister of External Affairs also announced a pledge by India of US $ 20,000 to the special Non-Aligned Fund for Namibia and India's continued support to the Front line States which were making sacrifices for the cause of Namibian independence .

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India's support was also reiterated for the speedy implementation, within a tim e frame, of the UN plan contained in Security Council Resolution 435 (1978), and the nee d for the imposition of comprehensive mandatory sanctions against the Pretoria re gime. India participated in the second meeting of the Co-ordinators of Non-Aligned Countries for Food and Agriculture, and the first food symposium of Non-Aligned and other developing countries held in Pyongyang in June and August respectively.

Commonwealth Summit Conference at Melbourne Of the 41 countries which attended the Commnowealth Heads of Government Conference at Melbourne, from 29 September to 7 October, 30 were represented by their Presidents and Prime Ministers. The Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. Malc olm Fraser chaired the Conference. The Indian delegation was led by the Prime Minis ter and included the Minister of External Affairs and senior officials, The meeting wel- comed Zimbabwe, Vanuatu and Belize as new members and extended similar greeting s to St. Vincent and the Grenadines which had become a special member.

The meeting issued a final communique and a sixteen-point declaration, descri bed as the first collective political statement by the Commonwealth on North-South issues which urged all other nations to join the Commonwealth countries in breaking th e im- passe. The Melbourne Declaration recognised that inequality of wealth in the Wo rld and especially "the cycle of poverty of the millions living in developing count ries are fundamental sources of tension and instability in the world". The Declaration u rged, that "while the most urgent humanitarian" considerations demand action, self in terest itself warrants a constructive and positive approach to these great human probl ems by all governments. In this context, it called upon the developed countries to rea ch the target of development assistance; expressed support to multilateral institution s and called for the creation of a World Bank affiliate on energy.

On the political side, the final communique expressed the concern of the Head s of Government regarding the slide from detente to confrontation, mounting tensi on between the big powers and the build up of nuclear arms threatening the very su rvival of mankind. Reviewing the developments in Southern Africa, the participants reaffirmed their total and unequivocal condemnation of apartheid as a crime aga inst humanity and their total rejection of all policies designed to perpetuate this inhuman system. They reaffirmed the Gleneagles Agreement of 1977, and reiterated their com- mitment to fulfilling effectively, their obligations under it. On Namibia, they registered their grave disappointment that the pre-implementation meeting in Geneva in Jan uary 1981 had been aborted by the refusal of the South African Government to agree t o a date for the implementation of the Security Council resolution 435 (1978), and urged the Western Contact Group to intensify efforts to secure the implementation of that resolution without modification or dilution as early as possible in 1982. India has agreed to host the next meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Govern - ment likely to take place towards the end of 1983.

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The UN System : Namibia and the issue of sanctions against South Africa Consideration of the question of Namibia by the 35th Session of the UN Genera l Assembly was postponed to its resumed session held from 2 to 7 March, consequen t to the pre-implementation Geneva talks (from 7 to 14 January) and the New Delhi Conference of the Foreign Ministers of Non-Aligned Countries.

The resumed session on 2 March, was marked by the rejection, once again, of t he credentials of the South Africa delegation as recommended by its Credentials Co mmittee.

After a protracted debate, the resumed session of the UN General Assembly adopted ten resolutions related to the different aspects of the question of Nam ibia. India co-sponsored all of them. The main element in the political resolution wa s the call on the Security Council to convene urgently to impose comprehensive, manda tory sanctions against South Africa and a provision for the General Assembly to cons ider necessary action in the event of the Security Council's inability to adopt conc rete mea- sures.

India took an active part in the deliberations on the question of Namibia in the resumed session. India's ststement during the debate set forth its consistent a nd prin- cipled position in support of the early exercise by the Namibian people of thei r right to self-determination and independence. It was emphasised, that the pre-impleme n- tation meeting was itself a concession to South Africa to give it a final oppor tunity to bring about a peaceful transition to independence in Namibia. Its failure had s hown that SWAPO's hands should be strengthened to intensify the struggle and the UN should fully isolate South Africa politically and economically, to compel it to imple- ment the UN resolutions.

The United Nations in collaboration with the OAU, convened an international Conference on Sanctions against South Africa in Paris, from 20 to 27 May, in pu r- suance of resolution 35/206-I adopted by the General Assembly on Dec 16, 1980. The Conference was attended by 120 member-States and a number of inter-governme n- tal, international non-governmental organisations as well as representatives of the liberation movements of South Africa Namibia and the PLO. The Western Five (Canada, France, FRG, UK and USA) as also Australia, New Zealand and Japan, did not participate in the Conference. Prime Minister Shrimati Indira Gandhi in her message to the Conference called upon the Western powers to uphold the provisio ns of UN Charter pertaining to respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms a nd to give up their support to the Pretoria regime. The alternative could be a pro longed armed struggle and greater suffering for the people of South Africa.

The Indian delegation to the Conference was led by the Minister of External Affairs. Addressing the Conference on 22 May, 1981, Shri Narasimha Rao reiterat ed India's total moral and material support to the measures that the Conference wo uld adopt. The Conference adopted by consensus, a special declaration on Namibia. The Declaration, inter-alia affirmed that sanctions provided under Chapter VII of the UN Charter universally applied, would be the most appropriate and effective mea sns to ensure South Africa's compliance with the decisions of the United Nations.

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In view of the fact that Security Council failed to impose mandatory sanction s against South Africa on account of the veto used by the three Western permanent members , viz. USA, UK and France, an emergency special session of the UNGA was held from 3 to 4 September to discuss the question of Namibia. The Assembly, at the outse t, rejected the credentials of South Africa by accepting the report. The resolutio n adop- ted by the General Assembly strongly urged the Security Council in the light of the serious threat to international peace and security posed by South Africa, to im media- tely impose comprehensive sanctions against South Africa and to cease forthwith , in- dividually and collectively, all dealings with that country in order to isolate it totally. India took an active part in the drafting of the working paper on which the res olution on Namibia as adopted by the special session was based.

Other UN Conferences

The UN Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy (NRSE) was held in Nairobi from 10 to 21 August. The Conference was attended by 125 member - States and a number of inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations. T he Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi, delivered the keynote address to the Co nference. She called on the world community to make energy a focal point of contemporary in- ternational cooperation based on equitable distribution of conventional stocks and joint development of new and renewable sources of energy. The Prime Minister, i n her address, also made suggestions for (a) creating an international consortium dedi- cated to mobilising bilateral credit and aid from institutions and (b) an expan ded pro- gramme for technical assistance in energy planning, manpower training and suppo rt to research and development and pre-investment studies.

The Indian delegation to the Conference was led by the Minister of State for Science and Technology, Electronics and Environment, Shri C.P.N. Singh. India was elected one of the Vice-Presidents of the Conference. The Conference adopted a Plan of Action, the principal features of which were a framework of national action to promote the development of NRSE in the contex t of integrated energy planning, sharing of international technological and finan cial sup- port and acceptance of consortium approach for mobilization of resources. The UN Conference on Least Developed Countries was held in Paris from 1 to 14 September, in pursuance of the recommendation of UNCTAD-V. Delegates from more than 142 countries attended the Conference. The Indian delegation to the c on- ference was led by the Minister of State for Commerce, Shri Khurshid Alam Khan. The Conference adopted by consensus, a Substantial New Programme of Action that will increase aid to the least developed countries in the 1980s and help bring about a restructuring of their economies in the interest of enhancing their long-term v iability. Under the Programme, the overall Official Development Assistance flow target of 0.7 per cent of the Gross National Product was also reaffirmed. Most donor countrie s made a commitment though not categorical, that within the frame work of the gen eral increase, an ODA of 0.15 per cent of their GNP could be devoted to the LDCS. In dia played an effective and constructive role in shaping the outcome of the Confere nce and was instrumental in projecting a unified image of G-77 throughout the Conferenc e.

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36th Session of UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly commenced its 36th Session on 15 Septem ber. The provisional agenda of the Assembly contained as many as 134 items rela ting to international political problems, disarmament, decolonisation, economic and financial questions, social, humanitarian and cultural issues, administration and budget and international legal subjects. The President of the 1981 session of the General Assem- bly was Mr. Ismat Kittani of Iraq. He was elected by the General Assembly after a contest with Mr. Kaiser of Bangladesh and Mr. Koh of Singapore.

Another important election was that of the next UN Secretary-General. Dr. Kurt Waldheim whose second five-year term ended on 31 December, was seeking a third term. The other candidate in the field was the Tanzanian Foreign Minister , Mr. Salim Ahmed Salim, whose candidature had been endorsed by both the OAU and the Non-Aligned Group. However, after a number of rounds of balloting in the Securi ty Council, neither of the candidates could receive the Council's recommendation f or nomination. In the end, both of them withdrew their names from further ballotin g and Mr. Javier Perez de Cueller, a senior Peruvian diplomat, was elected as UN Secr etary- General for a five year term commencing on 1 January, 1982. Messages of felicit ation were sent both by the Prime Minister of India and the Minister of External Affa irs to the new Secretary-General.

The membership of the United Nations went up to 157 with the admission of three new members namely, Vanuatu, Belize, and Antigua and Barbuda. The Assembly suspended its session on 12 December, after it had concluded con - sideration of most of the items on its agenda with a decision to reconvene in t he latter half of 1982 to discuss its remaining business. The Indian delegation to the 36th Session of the General Assembly was led by the Minister of External Affairs. As in previous years, India played an active role in the deliberations of the General Assembly and its Committees. In his address to the Gener- al Assembly, the Minister of External Affairs underlined India's firm commitmen t to the principles of the UN Charter and of Non-alignment which were based on th e objective necessity to contribute in a positive manner towards the creation of a peaceful and cooperative world. The Minister reviewed the economic and technological pro - gress made by India, India's relations with her neighbours, the dangerous devel op- ments in the nuclear arms race, the situation in the Indian Ocean, Afghanisatan , the Iran-Iraq war, South, East Asia, Palestine, Namibia, and the World economic sit ua- tion. He concluded by stating that the "North and South must share the same obj ec- tives as their destinies are intertwined. Together we can make sure that while following our paths, we can contribute to each other's prosperity as well as se curity provided we follow the logic of peaceful cooperation and steer clear of the twi n mis- takes of isolation and confrontation".

The plenary of the General Assembly adopted as many as 16 resolutions on Sout h Africa on the recommendation of the Special Committee against Apartheid. Most o f these resolutions were Co-sponsored by India. In this context, it may be mentio ned,

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that to give effect to the UN International Convention on the suppression and p unish- ment of the Crime of Apartheid, 1973, to which India had become a party in Octo ber 1977, the Minister of External Affairs had introduced the Anti-Apartheid Bill i n the Indian Parliament. This was passed on 31 August and 7 December, by the Lok Sabh a and the Rajya Sabha respectively. The question of Namibia was once again considered in the plenary of the Gener al Assembly when as many as six draft resolutions on various aspects initiated by the UN Council for Namibia, were adopted. In view of India's principled and consist ent stand on this issue, it voted in favour of all the resolutions. The draft resol ution on the work programme of the UN Council for Namibia was also introduced by India. The Fourth Committee of the General Assembly adopted two resolutions on Western Sahara. One resolution tabled by Kenya in its capacity as the current C hair- man of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), was adopted by consensus, while the other resolution tabled by Algeria (and co-sponsored by 32 other non-aligne d countries), was adopted by a vote of 73 in favour, 7 against and 54 abstentions . In the plenary, the Algerian draft was adopted by 76 votes in favour, 9 against and 57 absten- tions. India voted in favour of the Algerian resolution as there was no contrad iction between the OAU decision taken at its Nairobi Conference and the Algerian resol ution. The question of Kampuchea again proved to be controversial in the deliberatio ns of the General Assembly. The credentials of Democratic Kampuchea were once agai n endorsed by the General Assembly. An amendment to exclude the acceptance of the credentials of Democratic Kampuchea sponsored by 14 non-aligned countries inclu - ding India, was not accepted. The General Assembly also adopted a resolution, calling, inter alia, for the with- drawal of foreign troops from Kampuchea and adopting the results of the Interna tional Conference on Kampuchea (New York, July 1981). India abstained. It might be mentioned, that India had decided not to attend the International Conference on Kam- puchea because it was felt that any international conference would need to reas sure the people of Kampuchea that the process of normalisation within that country after the holocaust they had suffered during the Pol Pot regime, would not be reversed. A Conference which accorded recognition to the Pol Pot regime would not have serv ed this purpose. Secondly, India remained convinced that a peaceful political solu tion could only be achieved through a dialogue between the countries of the region. An international conference based on a resolution rejected by several of the count ries directly concerned, could only retard the prospects of a meaningful dialogue.

The UN General Assembly again adopted a resolution on the situation in Afghan is- tan which had been tabled by members of the Islamic Conference, by a vote of 11 6 in favour, 23 against and 12 abstentions. India abstained on the resolution which, inter alia., called for the immediate withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan a nd for a political solution in accordance with the provisions of the UNGA resolution. A similar resolution was adopted by the UNGA in August 1980, by 111 votes in favo ur, 22 against and 12 abstentions.

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In spite of four formal sessions and intensive informal counsultations, there was no agreement on the implementation of the earlier UN General Assembly decision on the convening of a Conference on the Indian Ocean. The Western powers main- tained the view, that there was no possibility of convening a Conference in the foresee- able future in view of the continuing foreign intervention in Afghanistan and l ack of harmonisation of views within the UN ad hoc Committee with regard to the concep t of the zone of peace and, therefore, with regard to the objectives of the Conferen ce. After months of intensive negotiations, the ad hoc Committee on Indian Ocean finally agreed on a compromise draft resolution which was adopted by the General Assembly with out a vote. The resolution, inter alia, emphasised the General Assembly's decision to con- vene a conference on the Indian Ocean at Colombo, Sri Lanka, as a necessary ste p for the implementation of the 1971 Declaration on the Indian Ocean as a zone of Pea ce. The resolution also requested the ad hoc Committee "to make every effort to acc omplish the necessary preparatory work for the Conference including consideration of it s con- vening not later than the first half of 1983". India played an active and const ructive role in the deliberations of the ad hoc Committee. The prospects of holding a C onfer- ence on the Indian Ocean as, scheduled, are dependent on the attitude, of the b ig powers.

As in previous years, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution sponsored by Pakistan on the establishment of a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in South Asia, by 93 votes in favour, 3 against (India, Bhutan and Mauritius) and 44 abstentio ns. Registering India's opposition to the Pakistani resolution, the Indian delegate stated that the proposal did not conform to the principles laid down for the setting u p of a nuclear weapon free zone the initiave for which should come from the states of the region concerned, on the basis of their common security concerns and common per - ceptions of the threat to their security. The Pakistani proposal did not also t ake into account the geopolitical situation and the security environment which currently pre- vailed in the region of Asia-Pacific and which had a direct bearing on the secu rity of South Asian States. All these factors, complicated by the deployment of nuclear wea- pons in the Asia-Pacific region, and the presence of foreign military bases in the Indian Ocean, made the establishment of a nuclear weapon free zone in South Asia inapp ro- priate.

The question of Israel's attack on Iraq's nuclear installations was discussed in the General Assembly under an item proposed by Iraq. The General Assembly adopt ed a resolution condemning, inter alia, Israel for its premeditated and unpreceden ted act of aggression against Iraq in violation of the UN Charter and the norms of inte rna- tional conduct. The resolution also demanded that Israel, in view of its intern ational responsibility for its act of aggression, pay prompt and adequate compensation for the material damage and loss of life suffered as a result of its aggression. India voted in favour of the resolution. The Indian delegate while condemning in the strongest terms the unprovoked and unjustified act of aggression committed by Israel agai nst Iraq, emphasised that the "linking of issues, such as the Non-Proliferation Tre aty (NPT) of full scope or other safeguards to the present question is not relevant and d etracts from the central issue to be addressed which is that of aggression". The delega te went

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on to add, that India's position on "Issues such as the NPT and full scope safe guards remains unchanged", and that India viewed references to these issues as they ap peared in the context of its well-known position. On 15 May, India signed the Inhuman Weapons Convention (Convention on prohibition of or restrictions on the use of certain conventional weapons which may be deemed to be excessively injurious or have indiscriminate effects) and its thre e annexed Protocols relating to (i) non-detectable fragments, (ii) mines, booby traps and other devices, and (iii) incendiary weapons.

At the UN Disarmament Commission (UNDC) in New York, India tabled a wor- king paper on the question of a UN Study on disarmament ralating to conventiona l weapons, in which it was stated, inter alia, that it would be one-sided to cons ider merely the question of international trade in conventional arms which affected the sma ll, developing or non-aligned States only, but all kinds of arrangements within mil itary alliances namely, gifts, off-sets, deployments, prepositioning, co-production, standardi- zation and technical cooperation.

At the Committee on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva India tabled a working paper on the question of verification in the field of disarmament in which it was, in ter alia, stressed, that any worthwhile and universally acceptable system of controls wou ld necessarily have to be based on objective, scientific, and non-discriminatory c riteria and should be made applicable to all states without exception, At the 36th Session of the General Assembly in New York, India pressed forwar d its initiative first taken in 1978 in the question of prohibition of the use of nuclear weapons pending nuclear disarmament. India's resolution whereby the General Assembly once again declared that any use of nuclear weapons would be a violati on of the Charter of the United Nations and a crime against humanity, was adopted by an overwhelming majority of 121 votes in favour, 19 against and 6 abstentions. Of the nuclear-weapon States, China and the Soviet Union voted in favour, while the Un ited States, the United Kingdom and France voted against. It may be noted that the U SSR voted for the Indian resolution for the first time, while China, which had firs t done so at the 35th session, maintained its positive vote.

The 36th Session of the General Assembly could not take any specific decision s rela- ting to the launching of Global Negotiations, an agenda item which had been car ried forward from the previous sessions. Following the Cancum Summit, it was expecte d that a decision on Global Negotiations would be possible in the General Assembl y and there were protracted negotiations on this subject. However, no consensus could emerge regarding some crucial questions such as the scope and agenda of the proposed n ego- tiations and the competence and role of specialised agencies. India as an activ e member of Group-77, played a constructive role in the deliberations regarding Global N ego- tiations. A decision has been taken to transmit this matter to the resumed sess ion of the General Assembly to be held in the latter half of January 1982.

India played an active role in the drafting and adoption of a large number of re- solutions in the Second Committee and in the General Assembly, such as on the c onven- ing of a conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy, a financing System for

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Science and Technology, on the United Nations Environment Programme, a resolu- tion on Inter-relations between Resources, Environment, People and Development, and a resolution on the UN Conference on Trade and Development. Other important resolutions adopted at the 36th General Assembly relate to th e Multilateral Fibre Agreement, Report of the World Food Council, UN Conference o n Least Developed Countries, World Population Conference, UN Population Award, and Strengthening the UN capacity to respond to Natural Disasters and other Dis aster situations.

The Third Committee of the 36th General Assembly's session adopted without a vote, the Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance based on R eligion and Relief. Substantive work on the Declaration had begun in 1962 but it had ta ken the Human Rights Commission almost 19 years to finalise the draft Declaration. Indi a pioneered the draft resolution on National Institutions for the promotion and p rotection of human rights. This was in consonance with the Government of India's known po si- tion, that national institutions are the best guarantee for the promotion and p rotection of human rights and hence the national governments should strengthen them inste ad of creating additional international institutions like the post of UN High Commiss ioner for Human Rights or regional commissions. International Law: Developments and Activities

At the 36th Session of the General Assembly, the Sixth Committee considered t he report of the Ad hoc Committee on the Drafting of a convention against the recr uitment, use, financing and training of mercenaries. While there was general condemnatio n of the use of mercenaries, opinions differed on the substantive aspect of the defi nition of mercenaries, particularly among the western delegations who favoured a harmonis ation of national criminal law as well as international collaboration on the lines of hijacking conventions. Upon the recommendations of the Sixth Committee, the General Assem b- ly adopted a resolution in which it decided that the Ad hoc Committee was to co ntinue its work of drafting an International Convention on the subject.

During the year, the International Law Commission adopted the final text of t he draft articles on Succession of States in respect of state property, archives a nd debts, and recommended that an international Conference of plenipotentiaries may be co n- vened to conclude a convention on the subject. The Commission also commenced it s second reading of the draft articles on the subject of treaties concluded betwe en states and international organisations or between international organisations themselv es.

During the year, the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea held two sessi ons; the Tenth Session in New York, from 9 March to 16 April and the resumed Tenth Session, in Geneva from 3 to 28 August. However, on account of the United State s' lack of interest in active participation pending a thorough review by it of the packag of compromises that had thus far been developed, the Conference could not make any substantial progress. Even at the resumed Tenth Session in Geneva, the USA plea ded for further time. The Group of 77, the East European States and some others ind icated keen interest to sign the Convention at the earliest, with or without the parti cipation of the USA. Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Iceland and Norway had also urged the

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USA to be more cooperative towards the Convention. At the resumed session, the Draft Convention on the Law of the Sea was given the status of an official document o f the conference. It was decided by a vote, that the seat of the International Seabed Autho- rity would be in Jamica and, that of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, at Hamburg. A significant breakthrough in the negotiations was the agreement on defining the criteria for the delimitation of maritime boundaries. The 11th Ses sion of the Conference is scheduled to be held in New York in March-April, 1982.

The Legal Sub-Committee of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space of which India has been a member since its inception, held its 20th Sessi on in Geneva in March-April. Among other things, the Committee discussed the impli- cations of remote sensing of the earth from space, the principles governing the use by States of artificial earth satellites for direct television broadcasting, the d efinition and/or delimitation of outer space activities. In regard to remote sensing of the eart h by satel- lites, some questions still remained unresolved. At the conclusion of the Sessi on, the Sub-Committee had recommended that the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer

Space should consider whether the elaboration of draft principles on direct tel evision broadcast satellites could be concluded or whether further progress could be ac hieved. The Committee had continued its work on matters relating to the definition and/ or delimitation of outer space, in relation to geostationary orbit, but there was no agree- ment. There was no agreement also with regard to the question of the possibilit y of supplementing the norms of international law relevant to the use of nuclear pow er sources in the outer space, in spite of an extensive exchange of views on it.

The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) held its 14th Session at Vienna in June. Progress was made by the Working Group s on International Contract Practices and on International Payments, and a New In ter- national Economic Order. In view of India's considerable interest in internatio nal trade, the Indian delegation played an active and constructive role in the work of the Commission.

An ad hoc meeting of Senior government officials who are experts in environme ntal law, was organised by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), at Montevideo in October-November. The object of this meeting was to establish a framework and method and programme for the development and periodical review of Environmental Law and to contribute to the preparation and implementation of th e environmental law component of the system-wise, medium-term environment program me. The meeting identified subjects like marine pollution from land-based sources, protection of the stratospheric Ozone layer, and the transport, handling and disposal of t oxic and dangerous wastes, as priority subjects to be dealt with by the UNEP in the fiel d of Inter- national Environmental Law.

The 22nd Annual Session of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee was held at Colombo in May. The Committee's report expressed concern over the delay in signing a Convention on the Law of the Sea on account of the delay caused by the US review of the entire question. On the question of joint venture arrangements fo r the optimum utilisation of fishery resources, the Committee reviewed the draft mode l equity

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and contractual joint venture arrangements prepared by the Secretariat. In rega rd to trade law matters, the Committee was asked to examine the matter further on joint investment proposals among the developing countries. During the year, India concluded 103 treaties and agreements of which a list is given at appendix-I Elections to UN bodies and other International Institutions

During the 36th Session, India was re-elected to the World Food Council and t he Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme for a three-year term beginning on 1 January, 1982. Dr. Nagendra Singh was re-elected to the Internat ional Court of Justice for a second 9-year term beginning on 6 February, 1982. He was suc- cessful in a contest which involved candidates from Pakistan, Malaysia and Sri Lanka for the only Asian seat. Similarly Dr. S.P. Jagota, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, was re-elected to the International Law Commission for a 5 -year term beginning on 1 January, 1982. Dr. Jagota secured 129 votes (highest along with Japan among the Asian candidates) out of 154 votes cast. Earlier, India was ele cted to the Food and Agriculture Council, the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultati ve Organisation (IMCO) Council, the UNICEF Executive Board, the UN Commission on Transnational Corporations and the UN Commission on Human Settlements. Member, Planning Commission, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, was elected unopposed as Independent Chairman of the Council of Food and Agriculture Organization by the FAO Confere nce in Rome for the period December 1981 to November 1983. Justice S.A. Masud was elected as a member of the UN Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discriminatio n and Protection of Minorities. The Minister of State for Health and Family Welfa re, Shri N.R. Laskar, was elected as one of the two Vice-Presidents of the Internat ional Red Cross League from Asia and the Pacific.

List of major international conferences/meetings/seminars organised by govern - ment/non-governmental organisations in which India participated and of which In dia became a member, are at Appendices II, III & IV.

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Dec 16, 1980

TOP

Foreign Economic Relations

Jan 01, 1981

CHAPTER IX

FOREIGN ECONOMIC RELATIONS

During the year, international economic relations received attention at the h ighest levels. It was a year of three summit meetings which focused their attention on North- South issues namely, the Ottawa Summit Meeting of the Major Industrialised Coun - tries which took place in July; the Commonwealth Summit Meeting in Melbourne where economic issues dominated the discussions, and the historic Cancum Summit meeting of 22 developed and developing countries, which considered the question of co- operation and development in the context of the future of North-South relations and the reactivation of the world economy. India, together with likeminded countries, m ade a determined effort to reverse the downhill trend in multilateral economic cooper ation. The Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi, sent special envoys before the Ottawa S ummit and made strenuous efforts at Melbourne to ensure that a propitious atmosphere was created for the Cancun Summit. At Cancun itself, there was a free and frank exc hange of views in a constructive spirit which has resulted in a better understanding of the reali- ties of inter-dependence. There were indications, in Cancun, of substantial con sensus in the fields of food and agricultural development, some energy matters as well as on further negotiations on trade liberalisation as a vehicle for the economic adva ncement of developing countries. In this context, the door was left open for Global Negoti ations, though subsequent developments in New York did not result in any perceptible mo ve- ment forward, on this important question.

Against this sombre background, there were two hopeful developments. The first one was the adoption of a comprehensive programme of cooperation among developing countries adopted at the High Level Meeting held in Caracas in May covering the fields of trade, raw materials, energy, food, industrialisation, t echnology and finance and setting out concrete modalities for its implementation. The pro gramme envisaged a series of meetings during the year 1982 which are likely to result in opera- tional activities in the field of economic cooperation among developing countri es. Other highlights were: the setting up of a core group of officials to assist the Chai rman of the Group of 77 on ECDC matters in New York, the opening of an ECDC account of the Group of 77, the convening of annual meetings of the Inter-Governmental Coordin ation Committee and of biennial meetings of the Group of 77 at Foreign Ministers leve l, for reviewing progress and laying down further guidelines.

Nearer home, the second hopeful development related to the concrete progress made on the subject of Regional Cooperation in South Asia during the year. As a result of the two meetings of the Foreign Secretaries of the seven South Asian countries on the subject, the ground rules for regional cooperation have been adopted, it s objec- tives defined and eight important areas of cooperation identified namely, agric ulture, rural development, telecommunications, meteorology, health and population activ ities, transport, postal services, science and technology. The working groups on these

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subjects would now be drawing up concrete programmes of cooperation both of imm e- diate nature as well as those having long-term aspects. It has been agreed that the Foreign Secretaries would meet again in the first half of 1982 to take stock of the situ- ation, review the work of the various groups and consider recommending a minist erial level meeting in 1982 to approve and launch a programme of regional cooperation .

An important development on the multilateral side was the successful conclusi on of the negotiations for a loan of approximately Rs. 5300 crores from the IMF un der its extended facility. The lack of any progress on the recommendations of the l ong- term Strategy Committee of the OPEC, and the weakening of the commitment on the part of some important developed countries to multilateral economic cooperation , con- firmed the fact that many of the oil importing developing countries including I ndia, have to face a serious and protracted balance of payments problem.

The unfortunate situation remains, that even after more than one year of the adop- tion of the International Development Strategy which outlined the objectives of inter- national cooperation for the Third Development Decade, the instruments and moda lities for achieving these objectives are lacking and there is a general atmosphere of a stale- mate. Conscious of the need for overcoming the current stalemate, and on the su g- gestions made by eminent personalities to the Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira G andhi, India took the initiative towards the end of the year to convene a meeting of P olicy- making Senior Officials of selected developing countries in February 1982, to t ake stock of the present situation in regard to North-South issues and examine the opport unities and perspectives for South-South Cooperation. It is expected that the February Consultations in New Delhi would succeed in building up the consensus that was reached in the Cancun Summit in the fields of energy and food development and would lea d to the emergence of useful suggestions for the development of constructive Nort h-South relations in the 1980s, in the fields of trade and finance and, above all, held in launching the Global Negotiations for tackling the complex and inter-related problems in different fields. At the same time, it is hoped, that an understanding would be reached d uring New Delhi Consultations for optimising the development of the collective self-r eliance among developing countries through the implementation of agreed policy guidelin es and working out of appropriate arrangements.

The economic exchanges of India on a bilateral basis, were further strengthen ed during the year. In the neighbourhood, the micro-wave link with Sri Lanka was c omple- ted; the sub-marine link between Malaysia and India was set up; the work relati ng to setting up of sub-marine link between India and the United Arab Emirates, has b een taken in hand. There has been overall intensification of India's economic coope ration with neighbouring countries in South Asia.

By far the greatest activities in the field of economic and technical coopera tion were with African countries. The visits of the Heads of State and Government from Ke nya, Tanzania, Guinea, Madagascar, Botswana, Ghana, Uganda and Zimbabwe, were inves- ted with a great deal of economic significance. Similarly, economic cooperation was the dominant theme during visits of the President of India to Kenya and Zambia, and of the Prime Minister to Seychelles and Kenya. Economic and technical cooperation agre e- ments were signed with Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Uganda. Already considerable

pg46

follow-up action has been initiated on these agreements in the form of deputati on of per- sonnel, cooperation in exploration and exploitation of minerals, and cooperatio n in small scale industry and rural electrification. The visit of a small scale indu stries team and a mining team to Zimbabwe, a multi-disciplinary industry team to Kenya, a s pecia- lists' team to Ghana to explore the possibilities of cooperation in the fields of taxation, sericulture, handicrafts and census, took place.

The Indo-Nigerian Joint Commission held its first meeting in Delhi and worked out various areas of cooperation, particularly in the fields of agriculture, ru ral electri- fication, irrigation, education and supply of man-power. The Fourth Session of the Indo-Tanzanian Joint Commission reviewed the on-going projects and took importa nt decisions in regard to financial cooperation by way of extension of credits and resche- duling of payments.

The Seventh Session of the Indo-Iraqi Joint Commission held in Baghdad, provi ded an opportunity for a comprehensive review of bilateral cooperation in diverse f ields. Iraq agreed to consider favourably, legitimate compensation claims of Indian co mpanies for losses suffered on account of the war. War-risk insurance for Indian worker s and experts was also introduced by the Iraqi Government.

The Indo-Swedish Joint Commission which meets every two years to review bilateral, commercial, economic and technical cooperation, met in Stockholm in October. The activities relating to economic and technical cooperation with developing countries continued with accelerated pace during the year under review. A sum o f approximately Rs. 9 crores was earmarked for implementation of various ITEC pro gram- mes during the financial year 1981-82 in addition to individual technical and e conomic cooperation programmes with Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. India announced its contribution of Rs. 5.5 lakhs to the Group of 77 account for ECDC programme s. Activities under the ITEC programme included gifting of two lakh tonnes of whea t to the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, a complete set of standards to Zambia, s pec- tacle frames to Botswana Red Cross and an X-ray unit to Malawi. A total number of about 1,000 Indian experts were sent to developing countries during the calenda r year 1981. Trainees from sub-Saharan African countries and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, in the fields of industry, management of oil companies, frui t and vegetable processing, civil aviation, engineering subjects and oil technology, were received under the ITEC Programme.

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1981

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Policy Planning

Jan 01, 1981

CHAPTER X

POLICY PLANNING

The Policy Planning and Review Division of the Ministry was expanded and stre ng- thened after merger with the Historical Division. It consists of Foreign Servic e Officers and a cadre of Research Officers as well as supporting staff and facilities inc luding a modern library. The Division functions under the guidance of the Foreign Secret ary and supervision of an Additional Secretary.

The Division conducts analytical studies of critical or potentially critical situations in various parts of the world and the policy options available to decision-make rs. In carrying out such studies the Division coordinates its activities with other Mi nistries and Departments in order to impart a multiple perspective to such vital questio ns of national concern as security, trade, economy and other matters. The Division al so maintains liaison with the Universities and Research Institutions in the countr y with a view to encourage study of foreign policy and a deeper analysis and appreciat ion of contemporary international problems. Officers of the Policy Planning and Review Division also maintain contacts with scholars and sometimes take part in academ ic conferences and seminars.

During the year under review, the Policy Planning and Review Division conduct ed policy studies and prepared background notes on different issues of national in terest in external spheres. These studies were circulated to Missions abroad and territor ial divisions of the Ministry. The Division also maintained an on-going contact wit h the area studies centres of universities where scholars are involved in research an d study of international affairs. The officers of the Division took interest in seminars r elating to India's foreign policy, organized at different institutions. Scholars and other experts were invited to the Ministry for panel discussions. Indian Ambassadors visiting Delhi for consultations were requested to hold discussions with officers of the Divis ion. Within the Division, a special cell has been set up to look after matters rel ating to people of Indian origin settled abroad. The information processed by the cell i s utilised in improving cultural contacts between India and overseas Indians.

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1981

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External Publicity

Jan 01, 1981

CHAPTER XI

EXTERNAL PUBLICITY

The External Publicity Division of the Ministry is responsible for the overal l tasks, of publicity affecting India's foreign relations. It also coordinates and super vises the press, public relations, publicity and cultural work done by Indian Missions ab road. The Division briefs and assists the Missions to interpret all aspects of India' s foreign policy to the public and the media of the countries of their respective accredi tation. They are also kept informed of the political, economic, social and cultural dev elopments in India in a manner so as to make foreign countries and people interested in d eveloping and expanding relations with India.

Against the background of the deteriorating international situation as reflec ted through increased great power rivalry leading to a reversal of the process of d etente, and developments in South-West Asia and South-East Asia, especially the supply of sophisticated arms to Pakistan and the triggering of an arms race in the sub-co ntinent, the Division gave a correct interpretation and projection of these developments .

The thrust of external publicity activities by the Division moved from "image " building. to projection of national "interests". The Division made special effo rts to project India's firm commitment to democracy, non-alignment and world peace, es ta- blishment of a new international economic order, using nuclear energy for peace ful purposes, the peaceful utilisation of outer space, moral and material support t o majority rule in Namibia and Zimbabwe and the objectives of the UN in upholding peace an d security in this world. The dangers to regional security as a result of arms ai d to Pakis- Stan, and India's sincere hope of having friendly and prosperous neighbours, we re spe- cifically projected by the Division.

Liaison work with other government departments, especially with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and the AIR and Doordarshan, was intensified. The intensified interaction between the Ministry of External Affairs and the Mi nistry of Information and Broadcasting has been at two levels. At the Ministerial leve l, the Minister of External Affairs and the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, held periodic meetings to evaluate the progress made. At these meetings, principles and guidelines were evolved which were then taken up at the official level. At the level of officials, a committee of officials on External Publicity was constituted. It c onsists of officers belonging to the Ministry of External Affairs, the Ministry of Informa tion and Broadcasting, AIR and Doordarshan. This committee implements the decision taken by the Ministerial Committee and gives advice and suggestions for improving the External Services Broadcasts of the AIR. Further, the Joint Secretary in charge of the X P Division, held regular briefings for AIR External Services and for rendering su ggestions for improvements.

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A continuous critical evaluation of the functioning of the XP Division made b y the Parliament, public and the Ministers, helped the Division in discharging it s functions and tasks with purpose and flexibility, in spite of limitations in terms of res ources and manpower.

Some of the criticisms made were (i) that the the External Publicity network did not have sufficient resources and modern equipment to undertake effective publi city, (ii) the Division had not drawn up an effective training programme and had not acquired adequate manpower resources for specialised External Publicity work; (iii) ther e was lack of speed and precision in communication between Headquarters and the India n Missions abroad about Indian developments; (iv) there was need to improve the q uality of Indian publicity material in terms of style and content; (v) there should be adminis- trative re-organisation, so that there was specialised staff to deal with diffe rent aspects of publicity work.

During the period tinder review, efforts were made to rectify these deficienc ies and shortfalls. Specialised training programmes for publicity work for Indian Forei gn Service Officers were initiated. A proposal is being actively processed, to ope n new publicity wings in 25 Indian Missions located in developing countries. However, the implementation of the recommendations concerning modernisation and increase of equipment, and the improvement in the quality of publicity material, depend upo n the availability of finances. During the year greater emphasis was placed on the following:

(i) Publicity material sent to the Missions was such as was responsive to iss ues of topical interest and to attitudes and views in different countries. Re quire- ments of Missions in terms of photographs, slides as well as publicity ma terial on economic, social, and cultural aspects of India, was provided on a con ti- nuing basis. Reference books on India, as well as other material for keep ing Missions informed, were, updated and regularly supplied.

(ii) A phased programme to modernise and update equipment was undertaken. A decision was taken to equip Indian Missions with colour TV and VCR system to improve audio-visual publicity, as well as record and analyse important broadcasts in foreign media.

(iii) The activities of Indian Missions were monitored closely, by an improved system of reporting. Missions were issued special guidelines about treatm ent of Indian visitors.

Printing

Printing of publicity material at Headquarters registered an increase during the year under review and as compared to 30-35 publications in the three previous y ears. more than 65 publications were brought out by the Division. A new publication k nown as "India Series" was introduced, containing subject matters of topical interes t. The series is being published in the form of leaflets. The prestigious publication, "India, Portrait of a People" was reprinted. The size and content of the Indian and For eign Review, a regular fortnightly publication of the Division, was changed to make it both instereting and readable.

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Transmissions

Efforts were also made to improve the reception of news by Indian Missions ab road by switching over to satellite links from the existing radio links. Out of 130 Indian diplomatic Missions and Posts. abroad, eight in North America are being covered through satellite channel through RCA and since January 1981, twenty seven are being covered by PTI satellite links. Twenty seven Missions are being covered b y trans- missions through radio signals, twenty four through bi-weekly telexes and five through twice weekly press cables.

Visiting Journalists

The Division also subsidised the visits of journalists from abroad with a vie w to projecting positively, developments in India. Such visits result in positive co verage and provide the Division with an excellent medium, for public relations activit ies. During the year, sixty four journalists visited India as guests of the Governme nt. One hundred and twenty Foreign TV teams also visited India to shoot documentary fil ms. Two hundred and sixty eight foreign journalists on professional visits to India , on their own, were accorded all possible assistance in their work during their stay here .

Audio-Visual Publicity During the year under review, 1587 prints of a number of documentary films pr o- duced by the Films Division were sent to Missions abroad. In addition, four doc u- mentary films on the visit of foreign VIPs. to India, and three on issues of to pical interest, were commissioned by the Division and produced by the Films Division.

Twenty feature films are under circulation amongst Indian Missions for non- commercial publicity. Five more films, purchased during the year for the same p urpose, are being sub-titled in various foreign languages. A decision to purchase anoth er twelve feature films has been taken. Sanctions for the purchase of four 16 mm film projectors, and one slide proje ctor, by Indian Missions, were issued during the year under review. About 200 gramophone records of Indian music and the National Anthem, were supplied to the Missions.

Over 40,000 photographs were despatched on fortnightly basis to Indian Missio ns abroad, on matters of topical interest. In addition, about 400 exhibition-size photo- graphs were also despatched, besides 500 colour transparencies. Nineteen photo- graphic exhibitions were organised by the Division, in Indian Missions.

The Division has subsidised the location of Indian correspondents be longing to the four Indian News Agencies, in different countries since January 1980, with the objec- tive of projecting news regarding India in a positive light through independent channels. The Division subscribed to special feature news services of news agencies, and commi- ssioned special feature articles on various aspects of development in India, Pu blication of special issues of Indian magazines devoted to topical themes, such as a 'Zon e of Peace' and other aspects of India's foreign policy, was encouraged.

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By and large, the reporting by foreign media, including items based on despat ches by foreign correspondents stationed in India, are factual. Whenever there is a deliberate or mischievous slant, it is brought to the notice of the correspondent in New D elhi by the Division, and to the notice of the concerned publication through Indian dip- lomatic Missions, and the correct factual position is given to them. As regards un- favourable interpretation which, of course, is a matter of opinion, the Mission s try to give the correct perspective by meeting the editorial management of the publica tion. The nature of reporting by foreign media, is kept under constant review by Indi an Missions.

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1981

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Cultural Relations

CHAPTER XII

CULTURAL RELATIONS

As in the previous years, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations continued to function as the apex body for promoting cultural relations between India and ot her countries. During the year, the ICCR received 77 distinguished visitors in varied fields of specialisation such as fine arts, literature, education, medicine and science. They came from the USA, UK, Australia, the USSR, Poland, GDR, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austri a, Belgium, France, Turkey, Italy, China, Japan, South Korea, Mauritius, Malawi, G hana, Fiji, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Guyana, Mexico and Venezuela.

Under the programme of inviting delegations of performing arts, 25 groups wer e received from Egypt, Italy, Austria, Sweden, France, Spain, the USSR, GDR, Czec ho- slovakia, Bulgaria, North Korea, the Philippines, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Bhu tan, Argentina and Mexico. A Latin American troupe came for the first time. There were also four delegations from Bhutan, of scholars, archers, students and officers.

On the other hand, 51 visitors and 43 performing delegations were sent from I ndia to different parts of the world. The individual visitors included academicians, educa- tionists, journalists, writers, artistes, sculptors and puppeteers. Many well-k nown Indian artistes, including dancers and musicians, gave performances in various foreign cities, international trade fairs and festivals. The visit of a Qari was sponsored to Kuala Lumpur to participate in the Inter - national Quran Reading Competition.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding for 1981 was coil- ferred jointly on Professor Gunnar Myrdal, a noted Swedish economist, and his w ife Mrs. Alva Myrdal, a well-known diplomatist and sociologist. Fifteen exhibitions ranging from Madhubani paintings, batiks, photographs, to Cartoons by famous Indian Cartoonists, were sent to Prague, Belgrade, Hungary, London, Havana, Peru, Venezuela, Accra, Lisbon, New York and Canada. Paintings including those by handicapped children were sent to London for displ ay at the Exhibition of Young Artists of the Commonwealth. An exhibition of paintings and drawings by children on Mahatma Gandhi, was sent to Washington to coincide with the Gandhi Birth Anniversary. Four exhibitions were received, of which men tion may be made of the one by the famous Pakistani artist Sadequain, and of Chinese paintings.

The publication committee of the Council met twice during the year. The Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi, formally released the publication 'Dances of the

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Golden Hall" published by the ICCR. Journals such as the Indian Horizons, Cultu ral News from India, Papeles de la India, Rencontre Avec I'Inde, the Africa Quarter ly and the Hindi Quarterly were brought out on schedule. Under the Indo-US Sub-Commission on Education and Culture, the meeting of the Indian Panel of the Sub-Commission was held. Under the Programme of exchang e of visitors, two persons were sent to the USA at the invitation of the American Secre- tariat of the Sub-Commission.

Two seminars were held, one on Ataturk and Nehru and the other, of Buddhist scholars from different parts of India to consider the feasibility of setting u p an advanced centre of Mahayan Buddhist Studies at Guntur. A delegation of Buddhist scholars from Bhutan also participated in this seminar.

The Azad Memorial Lecture on Prem Chand--An Appraisal by a Westerner, was delivered by Professor Siegfried Schulz of the Catholic University, Washington. Under the programme of Presentation of Books/Art Objects and Essay Competi- tions, books were presented to about 102 universities, libraries and institutio ns in 35 countries. Dolls, models and replicas of historical monuments in India were sen t to foreign countries for presentation to various museums and national organisation s. About 50 countries received such gifts. Prizes comprising handicrafts, books, L P records and other art objects were sent to the winners of the Essay Competition s held by Indian Missions abroad.

Orientation Courses on aspects of Indian life and culture policies and progra mmes, economy and external relations, were held for IFS probationers as well as for a group of American Fulbright scholars.

The Council continued its work relating to the observation of the UN Day, PLO Day and South Africa Freedom Day. The Mission of the UN Council for Namibia, led by a delegate from Cyprus, was received. The other delegates included repre senta- tives of the SWAPO, those from the Cameroons, USSR, and India. The Indian Cultural Centres in Fiji, Guyana and Surinam arranged film shows a nd performances of dance and music, as well as lecture-cum-demonstrations, Hindi c lasses, Yoga classes, plays and exhibitions.

The Council continued to maintain Indian professors teaching subjects like In do- logy in the Universities of Sofia (Bulgaria), Bucharest (Romania), El Colegio d e Mexico (Mexico), Georgetown (Guyana), Havana (Cuba), Humboldt University (GDR), Port of Spain (Trinidad) and the University of Warsaw (Poland). The Council continued to oversee the activities of the foreign cultural centr es in India by administering the British libraries at Bangalore, Bhopal, Lucknow, Pat na, Pune, Ranchi, Trivandrum, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, as also the House of Soviet Culture at Trivandrum which organised a number of film shows, lectures and exhibitions aimed at projecting Soviet life and culture. Liaison was maintained with the Max Mueller Bhavans and Alliances Francaise in India.

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As usual, the Council received a number of foreign students under various sch olar- ship schemes and continued to look after their welfare in India. The ICCR gave 16 scholarships for dance and music. Nineteen study tours were organised to differ ent parts of the country. Within the frame-work of the Indo-Bangladesh Cultural Pro tocol, signed on Dec 30, 1980, almost all the 100 scholarships offered to Bangladesh scholars for the period 1981-82 for pursuing higher studies in India were utili sed. Indian and Bangladeshi films were screened in film festivals held in the two countries during the year.

A Festival of India, a joint venture by India and the UK, will be inaugurated in London by the Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi in March 1982. The Indian and UK Prime Ministers will be the co-patrons of the Festival. There will be a seri es of exhibitions in prestigious galleries such as the Tate Gallery. The British Muse um and the Victoria and Albert Museum, in the fields of art, agriculture, science, ind ustry and technology, along with performances of drama, music and dance and exhibition of Indian films. The main objective of the Festival is to bring into focus, the ri chness and variety of the cultural heritage of India and the progress India has made in th e fields of science, industry and technology, since independence.

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Dec 30, 1980

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Protocol

Jan 01, 1981

CHAPTER XIII

PROTOCOL During the year, the Heads of Mission of the following 22 countries left Indi a on the completion of their assignment: Ambassadors of the UAE, Denmark, Syria, Poland, Belgium, Vietnam, Switzerland, Burma, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Iran, Thailan d Egypt, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Greece and Venezuela, and the Apostolic Pronuncio o f the Holy See : High Commissioners of Uganda, New Zealand and Nigeria. In the same period Heads of Mission of the following countries presented thei r credentials to the President of India: Ambassadors of the Republic of Korea, Bh utan, Panama (Non-resident), Tunisia, Kampuchea, UAE, Denmark, Vietnam, Poland, Switzerland, Burma, Spain, the Holy See, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, Greece, Belgium, Japan, Cuba, USA, Egypt, Thailand, Yugoslavia and Venezuela: High Commissioners of Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, New Zealand and Malta (Non- resident).

Panama and the Yemen Arab Republic opened Resident Missions and their res- pective Ambassadors presented credentials during the period under review.

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1981

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Passport, Emigration and Consular Services

CHAPTER XIV

PASSPORT, EMIGRATION AND CONSULAR SERVICES

The year 1981 started with a spurt in requests for the issue of fresh passpor ts and other related services. This trend continued throughout the year and the number of applications for the issue of passports received at the passport offices during the year went upto 14.73 lakhs as compared to 8.74 lakhs during 1979 and 9.52 lakhs duri ng 1980. There was thus an increase of 55 % in the workload of the passport office s during 1981 as compared to 1980. In 1981, 13.54 lakh new passports were issued, which became the highest figure recorded so far in any given year. Similarly the numb er of miscellaneous services rendered during the year under review was 6. 10 lakhs as compared to 4.86 lakhs in 1980. A detailed statement showing the number of applications for the issue of passports and miscellaneous services received and the number of pa ssports issued and the miscellaneous services rendered during the year 1981 is given at Appendix V.

The staff strength of all the Passport Offices was determined towards the end of 1980 on the basis of inflow of work during the preceding 12 months. Special tea ms of officers and staff were, therefore, deputed to some of the Passport Offices and the staff strength was increased by 149 additional posts, in various grades, in the Passp ort Offices, to ensure efficient and courteous services. As a result of these efforts, the n umber of pending passport applications was brought down to 1. 96 lakhs by the end of Nov ember 1981 as compared to 2.82 lakhs pending in the beginning of the year.

In December the number of applications for issue of passports rose to 1,76,14 7 as compared to the monthly average of 1,18,000 during the first 11 months of th e year. This unprecedented rush for passports was mainly a consequence of the rumour th at there might be an increase in passport fees as well as an imposition of deposit s. The rush was contained in early 1982 after these false rumours were successfully di spelled by the Passport Offices. Necessary steps are being taken to provide additional sta ff to cope with this increasing demand for the issue of passports. The number of Passport Offices remained at eighteen as no new Passport Office was opened during the year. However, the proposal for having a liaison office i n Simla to cater to the needs of the people of the hilly areas of Himachal Pradesh has since been finalised and it is likely to be opened soon. It is proposed to review requirem ents of additional passport offices keeping in view various factors such as workload, f inancial implications and convenience of the public.

During the year, the standard of efficiency in the issue of passports and ren dering miscellaneous services, achieved during the year 1980, was maintained by the Pa ssport Offices, as a result of the reorganization of the work pattern in Passport Offi ces, and through periodical inspections by the officers of the Ministry of External Affa irs and

pg57

through scrutiny of the monitoring reports received from the Passport Offices. Better liaison was established with the India Security Press, Nasik, in the matter of printing passport booklets and with the Railway Board, regarding the quick and efficient move- ment of the printed material.

Among some of the measures proposed to be introduced in 1982 to further impro ve the quality of services rendered by the Passport Offices are: (i) small and han dier passport booklet with more pages and a flexible cover; (ii) introduction of a P assport fee postal stamp to be made available on sale at Post Offices, which would simp lify the payment and accounting procedure, and computerised methods in the storage/ retrieval of information relating to the passports issued. The first stage woul d be the centralisation of vital information for regulating the issue of passports. During the year 1981, the total revenue earned by the Passport Offices was Rs. 888.93 lakhs as compared to the revenue of Rs. 552.44 lakhs in 1980. The ex penditure incurred by the Passport Offices in India during the year was Rs. 162.02 lakhs as com- pared to Rs. 135.97 lakhs in 1980.

With a view to removing inconvenience to Indian passengers going abroad, the system of emigration checks was discontinued at the international exit points w ith effect from 1 November 1980 and all Passport Offices in India were authorised to give suitable endorsements. In the case of passports already issued before Nov 01, 1980, spec ial counters were opened in all Passport Offices for such endorsements in the passp orts. However, in respect of cases which needed emigration clearance, the intending e migrants were required to go to one of the seven Protectors of Emigrants in India, for e migration purposes.

With effect from 1 August, the subject of emigration as contained in the Indi an Emigration Act, 1922 which concerns the emigration of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers, was transferred from this Ministry to the Ministry of Labour following an amendment of the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules 1961. Howev er, all the Passport Offices would continue to give endorsements such as "Emigratio n check required" as well as "Emigration check not required" depending upon the categor y of the applicant as before, at the time of issue of passports. During the period under review, Indian Missions abroad extended financial ass is- tance to 67 Indian nationals who had got stranded abroad. In the previous year, the number of such stranded persons who received help was 73. The number of destitu te Indians repatriated from abroad, however, jumped to 630 from 473 during l980. T here was a sharp increase in the number of deaths of Indian nationals in foreign cou ntries in 1981, the number being 814 as compared to 463 in 1980. The question of settl ement of claims and/or death compensation was taken up with the concerned foreign aut horities on behalf of the next of kin of the deceased and 114 such cases were settled du ring the the year under review.

The number of documents requiring attestation/authentication by the Ministry before submission to the foreign governments/embassies, continued to increase. While

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71,008 and 1,03,892 documents were authenticated in the years 1979 and 1980 res pecti- vely, the number rose to 1, 10,008 during 1981. Cases of 194 Indian nationals arrested in various countries were reported to the Government. All possible consular assistance was given to them and where possib le, their release and return to India were arranged by the Missions concerned.

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Nov 01, 1980

TOP

Administration and Organisation

Jan 01, 1981

CHAPTER XV

ADMINISTRATION AND ORGANISATION Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao continued as the Minister of External Affairs. There was no change at the level of Foreign Secretary and Secretary. At the level of Additional Secretary, Shri J.R. Hiremath took over as Additional Secretary (Admn) and Dr. J.S. Teja as Additional Secretary (Policy Planning).

The total strength of the IFS (A) & (B) Cadres both at Headquarters and abroa d, was 3684 out of which 1226 were officers. The total staff strength is given at Appendix VI.

To project India's image abroad, safeguard its national interests and impleme nt national policies, there are 130 Missions and Posts abroad, manned by 720 offic ers and 2636 non-diplomatic officials, of which approximately 1300 are locally recruite d emplo- yees.

A list detailing number of officers who have qualified in various languages i s given at Appendix VII. Global inflationary trends showed no signs of declining during the year. It w as, therefore, considered necessary, to implement further, administrative and finan cial reforms and also to take effective follow-up action on the reforms introduced d uring the previous year. A number of steps were undertaken to streamline the rules re lating to posting of personnel abroad. The most prominent reforms in this direction we re the implementation of the new Children's Education Allowance scheme, rules gove rning Home Leave Fares and Emergency Passages and Outfit Allowance Rules. Follow-up action on removal of all transferable items of work from some of the larger Mis sions as London, to effect economies, has also been undertaken. In this context, it was nece- ssary to formulate a fresh set of rules and regulations covering payment proced ures for payment to foreign suppliers against international contracts. Assessment of the func- tional effectiveness of Indian Missions to bring about optimum efficiency in th eir work. ing, was done. Additional staff was diverted to the Missions in West Asia and N orth Africa to cope with the increased workload due to a large scale emigration of I ndian nationals to these areas.

Simultaneously, the need for a Cadre Review was felt. The Ministry is current ly working on a Cadre Review of both the IFS(A) and IFS(B) Cadres. The Cadre Re. view is being processed on the basis of systems and transactional analysis in c onsulta- tion with the Ministry of Finance and the Department of Personnel & Administrat ive Reforms, and along the guidelines given by the latter, in this context. While fully conscious of the need for economy, especially in terms of foreign ex- exchange, the increasing diversification and pressure of international diplomac y has

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made the concept of multifunctional diplomatic officers rather outdated. Functi onal trends dictate the necessity of having full time officers with adequate support ing staff in order that all aspects of diplomatic activity may be efficiently and effectivel y fulfilled.

In accordance with the instructions from the Department of Personnel & Admi- nistrative Reforms, the Clerical Grades of IFS(B) were restructured and stagnat ion in these Grades has been removed completely.

During the financial year 1981-82, Foreign Service Inspectors conducted inspe ction of some important Missions as those in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, USSR, Thailand, Vietnam, Kampuchea, Laos and Singapore. The existing scheme of payment of Daily Allowance is being rationalised. A ne w scheme proposed by this Ministry has been accepted in principle, by the Ministr y of Finance. Under the new scheme, which is expected to be introduced soon, a panel of hotels will be drawn up in various countries and the Government of India person nel, who visit these countries on official tours will be provided accommodation in t hese hotels, according to their status. In addition, they will also be paid Cash All owance at the prescribed rate in US Dollars. Unlike the arrangement under the existing Sys- tem, where Cash Allowance rates differ from one country to another, Cash Allowa nce will be fixed on a four tier basis, in accordance with the UN cost of living in dices.

The Welfare Unit of the Ministry continued to look after the general welfare of all officials serving at Headquarters and in the Missions abroad. Grand-in-Aid on an ad hoc basis for the provision of recreational facilities to officers and staff in Missions as well as in Passport Offices, was arranged in consultation with the Departmen t of Personnel & Administrative Reforms. Financial assistance out of the Staff Benef it Fund, was provided to bereaved families and help was extended in other deservin g cases. Employment was provided to deserving dependents of deceased officials. Assistan ce was given to the physically handicapped. Canteen facilities at South Block, Pat iala House and the, External Affairs Hostel, were improved.

Vigorous follow-up action on the Five Year Property Acquisition Plan was take n so as to reduce the Government's rental liability abroad. During the current fi nancial year, an amount of Rs. 11 crores has been earmarked for the acquisition and con s- truction of property abroad.

The total establishment expenditure of all Missions abroad has, on account of the various administrative reforms and property acquisition drives, been kept at a reason- able amount of Rs. 50 crores. The expenditure at Headquarters is about Rs. 7 crores. Details are given in Appendices VIII & IX. India's contribution to the various international Organisations is of the ord er of Rs. 3.5 crores, while technical and economic aid, extended to various third wor ld coun- tries has been of the order of Rs. 60 crores. A Special Cell continued to function to watch and monitor the progress of imp le- mentation of the reservation order in respect of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The details are given in Appendices X & XI.

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1981

TOP

Use of Hindi in Official Work

Jan 01, 1981

CHAPTER XVI

USE OF HINDI IN OFFICIAL WORK In accordance with the Government's policy regarding the use of Hindi in offi cial work, every effort was made both in the Ministry and Missions/Posts abroad to i mple- ment the provisions of the Official Language Act and the Rules made thereunder. Apart from the use of Hindi as the Union Official Language, vigorous efforts were mad e to popularise Hindi in foreign countries, particularly in the areas where a large segment of the population comprises people of Indian origin.

The Official Language Implementation Committee of the Ministry kept a close watch on the actual implementation of the policy of increasing the use of Hindi in official work. Such committees are already functioning satisfactorily, in some of the la rger Indian Missions. The Regional Passport Offices have also been asked to establis h Official Language Implementation Committees and to submit their reports to the Ministry.

In order to ensure fuller implementation of the Official Language Rules in th e Ministry, RPOs and Missions/Posts abroad, suitable check points were evolved du ring the year under report and were circulated to all concerned to ensure that the g eneral orders are issued both in Hindi and English.

During the year, the Committee of Parliament on Official Language inspected Regional Passport Offices at Delhi, Calcutta, Patna, Bhubaneswar and Ahmedabad. At their suggestion, all the RPOs have been directed to have at least one Hindi ty pewriter and one Hindi typist in their offices. A proposal is under consideration for th e creation of the posts of Hindi Officer/translator etc. in Regional Passport Offices at D elhi, Lucknow, Patna, Calcutta, Bhopal, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Bombay. It has also been decided to set up a special cell in the Hindi Section of the Ministry to compile a "Diplomatic glossary" to cope with the translation of new words an d expres- sions that are increasingly finding their way into the jargon of international relations. It is essential to have at the disposal of the Hindi Section, standard Hindi eq uivalents while translating international agreements.

The process of equipping Indian Missions/Posts abroad with Hindi typewriters, English-Hindi dictionaries, help books, standard Hindi books for libraries as w ell as for the children, and rubber stamps/sign boards went apace. Hindi typewriters h ave been supplied to almost all the Missions/Posts abroad and steps have been taken to train and send typists knowing Hindi typing to the Missions/Posts abroad. Efforts are also being made to create more posts of Hindi Officers for Indian Missions/Posts abr oad.

The demand for Hindi magazines/newspapers in many foreign countries, parti- cularly those that have a large number of people of Indian origin, increased ma nyfold.

pg62

Under the Newspaper Exchange Programme, Hindi newspapers/magazines were exchanged on a regular basis. A start has been made to issue important publicat ions in Hindi. The speeches of the Minister of External Affairs, delivered in Pakist an and Nepal, were published in the form of booklets in Hindi. Hindi classes for children continued to be held in more than 20 of the Indian Missions abroad. In pursuance of the Ministry's programme of popularising Hindi, a get-togethe r in honour of Hindi writers from Fiji, Mauritius, Hungary, Britain, Poland and t he GDR, was organised in Delhi. Besides local writers, poets and journalists, some Memb ers of Parliament participated in the function. Hindi books/Hindi typewriters and H indi help literature were supplied to local voluntary organisations/universities in foreign countries.

The Committee of Parliament on Official Language visited and inspected the Ministry. On this occasion, an exhibition depicting the various documents prepa red in Hindi and efforts made to popularise Hindi abroad was also organised. The pr ess and other mass media commented favourably on this effort.

pg65

1981
Appendix I Treaties/ Conventions/ Agreements concluded or renewed by India
APPENDIX I 

Treaties/Conventions/Agreements concluded or renewed by India with other countries in 1981*

Sl.Title of Convention/Treaty/Agreement Date of Date of Date on Remarks No. Signature ratification which accession/ entered acceptance into force 1 2 3 4 5 6 MULTILATERAL Road Signs and Signals 1. Convention on Road Signs and Signals. Done at Vienna on Nov 08, 1968. 10-3-1980 10-3-1981 European Economic Community (EEC) 2. Financing Agreement (No. NA/80-34/C5) between the Republic of India and the European Economic Community (EEC) regarding Cyclone Protection Shelters in Tamil Nadu, Phase II 26-2-1981 26-2-1981 3. Financing Agreement (No. NA/80-5/C1) between the Republic of India and the European Economic Community (EEC) re- garding Supply of Fertilisers, 1980 . 18-5-1981 18-5-1981 4. Agreement for Commercial and Economic Cooperation between India and the European Economic Community 23-6-1981 18-11-1981 1-12-1981 5. Financing Agreement (No. NA/80-37/C5) between the Republic of India and the European Economic Community (EEC) regarding Kerala Anti-Disaster Shelters. 31-7-1981 31-7-1981 Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) 6. Loan Agreement between India and the OPEC Fund for International Develop- ment for Ramagundam Thermal Power Project-Loan Number 198 P. 24-10-1980 2-2-1981 Universal Postal Union 7. Universal Postal Union. The Acts of the XVIIIth Universal Postal Congress signed at Rio de Janeiro Congress, 1979: . (i) General Regulations of the Universal Postal Union. Final Protocol to the General Regulations of the Universal Postal Union 26-10-1979 1-7-1981 (ii) Universal Postal Convention. Final Protocol to the Universal Postal Con- vention. Detailed Regulations- Forms. 26-10-1979 1-7-1981 *This list is not exhaustive.

pg66

1 2 3 4 5 6 (iii) Postal Parcels Agreement. Final Pro- tocol to the Postal Parcels Agreement. Detailed Regulations--Forms 26-10-1979 1-7-1981 University for Peace and Charter of the University for Peace. 8. International Agreement for the Establish- ment of the University for Peace and Char- ter of the University for Peace adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 5 December, 1980 3-12-1981 3-12-1981 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 9. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) concerning Project No. IND/79/047/A/01/ 31--Integrated Exploration Methods for Minerals, NGRI, Hyderabad 13-10-1980 17-8-1981 and 18-4-1981 10. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regarding Project No. IND/81/038/A/01/ 01--Hydraulic Structures Research Centre. 30-10-1980 16-11-1981 11. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regarding Project No. IND/79/028/A/01/- 37--Bicycle Research and Development Centre, Ludhiana 11-11-1980 4-3-1981 12. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regarding Project No. IND/79(027/A/01/ 37--Sewing Machine Development Centre, Ludhiana 11-11-1980 4-3-1981 13. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) concerning Project No. IND/79/046/A/01/ 37--Instruments Design, Development and Facilities Centre, Ambala Cantt 11-11-1980 21-4-1981 14. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regarding Project No. IND/81/001/A/01/ 37--Development of NMR Spectrometers for Oilseed Characterisation . 17-11-1980 7-8-1981 15. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) concerning Project No. IND/80/011/A/01/ 12--Remote Sensing Technology for Land Development 21-11-1980 21-4-1981 16. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regarding Project No. IND/78/033/A/01/ 01--Artificial Recharge Studies.--Mehsana Area and Coastal, Saurashtra, Gujarat 27-11-1980 20-1-1981

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1 2 3 4 5 6 17. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) concerning Project No. IND/80/048/A/01/ 11--Training in Coal Mines Safety Engi- neering (Fire and Explosion) Prevention for Coal Mines 28-11-1980 4-12-1981 18. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regarding Project No. IND/74/046/I/01/12- Crocodile Breeding and Management (Phase II) 29-12-1980 20-2-1981 19. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) concerning Project No. IND/79/003/F/01/ 19--Prevention and Control of offshore Oil Spills 5-1-1981 22-5-1981 20. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regarding Project No. DP/IND/80/003/A/ 01/37--Bioscience and Engineering . 5-3-1981 14-8-1981 21. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) concerning Project No. IND/80/033/A/01/ 20--Research and Development Programme of Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahme- dabad, Phase II 7-3-1981 13-7-1981 22. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) concerning Project No. IND/81/009/A/01/ 37--Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre 31-3-1981 8-6-1981 23. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) concerning Project No. IND/80/037/A/01- (37)--Pesticides Development Programme in India 27-5-1981 8-6-1981 24. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regarding Project No. IND/81/004/A/01/ 37--Standardisation of Melting Techno- logy of Sponge Iron 4-7-1981 3-11-1981 25. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regarding Project No. IND/81/014/A/01/ 42--Feasibility Study for Providing Low Cost Pour-Flush Waterseal Latrines in 100 Towns (Phase II) 5-8-1981 26- -1981 26. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UN DP) concerning Project No. IND/80/030/A/01/ 13--Post Graduate Engineering Education and Research, Baroda 28-8-1981 11-12-1981

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1 2 3 4 5 6 27. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) concerning Project No. IND/80/031/A/01/ 13--Post Graduate Engineering Education and Research, Coimbatore 28-8-1981 11-12-1981 28. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regarding Project No. IND/81/028/A/01/ 37--Modernisation of Facilities for the Manufacture of Anti-Malarial Drug 10-10-1981 20-11-1981 29. Agreement between India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regarding Project No. IND/81/015/A/01/ 37--Electro-metallurgical Production of Aluminium Silicon Alloys from Sillimanite Concentrate 15-12-1981 3-12-1981 Wheat Trade Convention 30. 1981 Protocol for the Sixth Extension of the Wheat Trade Convention, 1981 16-6-1971 1-7-1981 BILATERAL ALGERIA 31. Agreement Concerning Money Order Ser- vice from Algeria to India 10-4-1981 1-8-1981 32. Agreement on Cooperation in the Railway Sector between the Government of the Re- public of India and the Government of the Democratic and Popular Republic ofAlgeria 16-10-1981 16-10-1981 ARGENTINA 33. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Argentine Republic on Cooperation regarding the Utilisation of Atomic Energy for Peaceful Purposes 28-5-1974 7-3-1975 8-4-1981 AUSTRALIA 34. Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of India and the Govern- ment of Australia relating to the Indo- Australian Fodder Seed Farm Project in the State of Karnataka 7-12-1981 7-12-1981 35. Exchange of letters between India and Aus- tralia concerning amendment of the Memo- randum of Understanding between the Government of India and the Govern- ment of Australia regarding Apple Gra- ding/Storage Project dated 7 July, 1979. 17-12-1981 17-12-1981 36. Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of India and the Govern- ment of Australia relating to Indo-Aus- tralian Cattle Breeding Project---Hissar (Haryana) 30-12-1981 30-12-1981

pg69

1 2 3 4 5 6 AUSTRIA 37. Agreement between the Government of India and the Austrian Federal Government on Financial Assistance to India 9-9-1981 9-9-1981 BANGLADESH 38. Telecom unication Agreement between the Government of India and the Govern- ment of the People's Republic of Bangla- desh 19-5-1981 1-6-1981 BELGIUM 39. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium relating to the Granting of Financial Assistance by the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium to the Government of the Republic of India 26-5-1981 26-5-1981 40. Agreement between the Govern ment of the Republic of India and the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium relating to the Granting of Financial Assistance by the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium to the Government of the Republic of India 28-7-1981 28-7-1981 CANADA 41. Agreement between India and Canada act- ting through the Canadian International Development Agency for a loan of thirty million Canadian dollars (C$ 30,000,000) for Agricultural Refinance and Develop- ment Corporation (ARDC III) Project during 1980-81. 12-2-1981 12-2-1981 42. Agreement between India and Canada act- ing through the Canadian International Development Agency for a loan of Cana- dian dollars fifty two million (C$ 52,000,000) for the Idukki Hydroelectric Power Project in Kerala State-Phase II 12-2-1981 12-2-1981 43. Memorandum of Understanding between India and Canada for a grant of Canadian dollars seven million, three hundred thou- sand (C$ 7,300,000) for the Idukki Hydro- electric Power Project in Kerala State-- Phase-II. 12-2-1981 12-2-1981 44. Development Loan Agreement between the Government of India and the Government of Canada for a line of credit of Canadian dollars twenty million (C$ 20,000,000) for mining sector 2-4-1981 2-4-1981 CYPRUS 45. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of of the Republic of Cyprus on Cultural Co- operation 24-10-1980 23-7-198 1 17-9-1981

pg70

1 2 3 4 5 6 DENMARK 46. Agreement between the Government of India and the Government of Denmark re- garding a Health Care and Family Welfare Project in two districts of Tamil Nadu 1-8-1981 1-8-1981 47. Agreement between the Government of India and the Government of Denmark on a Danish Government Loan to India. 28-10-1981 28-10-1981 48. Exchange of Letters between the Indian and Danish Governments for Establish- ment of an All India Spare Parts Depot for the Use of Frozen Semen Production Centres/Banks. 2-12-1981 2-12-1981 49. Agreement between the Government of India and the Government of Denmark on an Integrated Fisheris Project at Tadri, Karnataka 15-12-1981 15-12-1981 FRANCE 50. Financial Protocol between the Government of the Republic of India and the Govern- ment of the Republic of France relating to French credits meant to finance the alumi- nium plant project of Orissa . 14-1-1981 14-1-1981 51. Convention between India and the Credit National Limited, Paris, relating to French credits meant to finance the aluminium plant project of Orissa 30-1-1981 30-1-1981 GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC 52. Trade and Payments Agreement between the Government of the republic of India and the Government of the German Demo- cratic Republic 17-12-1980 1-1-1981 GERMANY, FEDERAL REBUBLIC OF 53. Loan Agreement between India and Kreditanstalt Fur Wiederaufbau for fifty million Deutsche Mark (DM 50,000,000) for Oceanographic Research Vessel 24-2-1981 24-2-1981 54. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany concer- ning Technical Cooperation in the Field of Deep Sea Research 5-3-1981 5-3-1981 55. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany con- cerning Technical Cooperation on the Es- tablishment of an Institute of Toolroom Training 5-3-1981 5-3-1981 56. Loan Agreement between India and Kredi- tanstalt Fur Wiederaufbau for one hundred and seventy six million Deutsche Mark (DM 176,000,000) for Neyveli II, Second Lignite Mine and Second Thermal Power Station/639 M.W. 10-3-1981 10-3-1981

pg71

1 2 3 4 5 6 57. Guarantee Agreement between India and Kreditanstalt Fur Wiederaufbau to the Loan Agreement dated 15 January, 1981 between Kreditanstalt Fur Wiederaufbau and the Industrial Finance Corporation of India for fifteen million Deutsche Mark (DM 15,000,000) 13-5-1981 13-5-1981 58. Guarantee Agreement between India and Kreditanstalt Fur Wiederaufbau to the Loan Agreement dated 25 February, 1981 between Kreditanstalt Fur Wiederaufbau and the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India Ltd. for twenty five million Deutsche Mark (DM 25,000,000) 13-5-1981 13-5-1981 59. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany con- cerning Financial Corporation in 1981. 23-9-1981 23-9-1981 INDONESIA 60. Agreement between the Government of India and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia on Cooperation regarding the Utilization of Nuclear Energy for Peaceful Purposes 9-1-1981 22-5-1981 31-8-1981 JAPAN 61. Exchange of Notes between the Government of India and the Government of Japan re- garding a Japanese Grant Aid (Cultural Grant 11) of Yen twenty nine million (Yen 29,000,000) for 1980-81 for the purchase of Japanese Language Laboratory Equip- ment from Japan for the University of Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University for the purpose of promoting Japanese language education in India . 12-1-1981 12-1-1981 62. Exchange of Notes between the Government of India and the Government of Japan con- cerning Japanese Grant Aid of Yen two billion four hundred and sixty three million five hundred and fifty nine thousand (Yen 2,463,559,000) 18-3-1981 18-3-1981 63. Exchange of Notes between the Govern- ment of India and the Government of Japan concerning a Japanese Loan of Yen four billion (Yen 4,000,000,000) for the implementation of the Western Yamuna Canal Hydroelectric Project . 18-3-1981 18-3-1981 64. Loan Agreement No. ID-P.7 for Western Yamuna Canal Hydroelectric Project bet- ween India and the Overseas Economic Co- operation Fund (OECF) of Japan 19-3-1981 25-3-1981

pg72

1 2 3 4 5 6 65. Exchange of Notes dated 21 June, 1979 bet- ween the Government of India and the Government of Japan concerning a Japanese Loan of Yen twenty billion (Yen 20,000,000,000) for the Implementation of the Ammonia Plants Part of the Surat Ferti- lizer Project and the Loan Agreement No. ID-P.8 dated 7 May 1981 for the implemen- tation of the Hazira Fertilizer Project bet- ween India and the Overseas Economic Co- operation (OECF) of Japan 7-5-1981 17-7-1981 66. Exchange of Notes dated 27 March, 1981 between the Governmnet of India and the Government of Japan concerning a Japanese loan of Yen one billion four hundred and twenty million (Yen 1,420,000,000) for the implementation of the Chandrapur Thermal Power Station Expansion Project and the Loan Agreement No. ID-P.9 for the Chandrapur Thermal Power Station Ex- pansion Project between India and the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) Japan dated 2 June, 1981 2-6-1981 4-8-1981 67. Exchange of Notes between the Government of India and the Government of Japan con- cerning a Japanese loan of Yen sixteen billion four hundred million (Yen (16,400 000,000) for (1) Telecommunication Extension Project (Yen 9.4 million) and (2) Nagarjunasagar Hydroelectric Power Station Expansion Project Stage If (7.0 billion) 17-7-1981 17-7-1981 68. Exchange of Notes between the Government of India and the Government of Japan con- cerning a Japanese Grant of Yen one billion (Yne 1,000,000,000) for increasing food production in India. . 17-7-1981 17-7-1981 69. Exchange of Notes between the Govern- ment of India and the Government of Japan concerning a Japanese Grant of Yen fifty million (Yen 50,000,000) for the purchase of gymnastic and sports equipment from Japan 17-7-1981 17-7-1981 70. Exchange of Notes between the Govern- ment of India an the Government of Japan concerning a Japanese loan of Yen twenty billion (Yen 20,000,000,000) for the imple- mentation of the Ammonia and Urea Plants Parts of Thal Vaishet Fertilizer Project 3-9-1981 3-9-1981 71. Exchange of Notes between the Govern- ment of India and the Government of Japan concerning a Japanese loan of Yen ten billion eight hundred million (Yen 10,800,000,000) for the following pro- jects :-- (i) Lower Mettur Hydro Electric Project of the Tamil Nadu State Electricity Board (Yen 7.6 million) 3-9-1981 3-9-1981

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1 2 3 4 5 6 (ii) Lower Borpani Hydro Electric Project of the Assam State Electricity Board (Yen 1.7 billion) 3-9-1981 3-9-1981 (iii) Hirakud Hydro Electric Project of the Assam State Electricity Board (Yen 1.5 billion) 3-9-1981 3-9-1981 72. Loan Agreement No. ID-P10 for Thal Vaishet Fertilizer Project between India and the Overseas Economic Coopera- tion Fund (OECF) of Japan . 24-9-1981 6-11-1981 73. Loan Agreement No. ID-P11 for Tele- communications Project (III) between India and the Overseas Economic Co- operation Fund (OECF) of Japan . 15-10-1981 3-12-1981 74. Loan Agreement No.ID-P12 for Telecom- munications Project (IV) between India and the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) of Japan 15-10-1981 3-12-1981 75. Loan Agreement No. ID-P 15 for Lower Borpani Hydroelectric Project between India and the Overseas Economic Coopera- tion Fund (OECF) of Japan 15-10-1981 3-12-1981 MALDIVES 76. Trade Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Govern- ment of the Republic of Maldives 31-3-1981 31-3-1981 NETHERLANDS 77. Exchange of letters between India and De Nederlandse Investerings bank voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. for a grant of Hfl. fifty nine million (Hff 50,000,000) for 1981 22-6-1981 22-6-1981 78. Loan Agreement between India and De Nederlandse Investigatings bank voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. for Hfl. one hundred and sixty five million (Hfl 165,000,000) 4-9-1981 4-9-1981 NEW ZEALAND 79. Exchange of letters between India and New Zealand regarding India/New Zealand Forest Nurseries and Establishment Project in Himachal Pradesh 28-3-1981 1-3-1980 PHILIPPINES 80. Trade Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Govern- ment of the Republic of the Philippines 29-5-1979 29-6-1979 1-9-1981 POLAND 81. Tradeand Payments Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Polish People's Republic 16-1-1981 1-1-1981

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1 2 3 4 5 6 ROMANIA 82. Long-term Trade and Payments Agree- ment between India and the Socialist Re- public of Romania for the years 1981 to 1985 2-12-1980 1-1-1981 UGANDA 83. Agreement on Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation between the Govern- ment of the Republic of India and the Go- vernment of the Republic of Uganda 24-11-1981 24-11-1981 84. Trade Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Govern- ment of the Republic of Uganda . 24-11-1981 24-11-1981 UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS (USSR) 85. Trade Agreement between the Republic of India and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 10-12-1980 1-1-1981 86. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on Mutual Deliveries of Certain Goods in 1981-82 30-4-1981 30-4-1981 87. Protocol on Deliveries of Machinery and Equipment from the Union of Soviet Socia- list Republics to the Republic of India on Defferred Payment Terms . 30-4-1981 30-4-1981 88. Protocol between India and Soviet Union on Cooperation in the field of Meat and Diary Industry and Research 21-5-1981 21-5-1981 89. Protocol of the Negotiations between the representatives of the USSR Ministry for the Oil industry and the Ministry of Petro- Chemicals and Fertilizers of India on fur- ther development of the Soviet-Indian co- operation in the oil industry 30-11-1981 30-11-1981 UNITED KINGDOM 90. Convention between the Government of India and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the Avoidance of Double Taxa- tion and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and Capital Gains 16-4-1981 21-10-19 81 91. Exchange of Notes between the Govern- ment of India and the Government of the United Kingdom regarding United King- dom/India Local Costs Grants, 1981. 16-4-1981 16-4-1981

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1 2 3 4 5 6 92. Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning Cooperation in the Develop- ment of the Indian Coal Industty 16-4-1981 16-4-1981 93. Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the United King- dom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning Cooperation in Certain Indus- tries and in Trade 16-4-1981 16-4-1981 94. Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the United King- dom of Great Britan and Northern Ireland concerning Collaboration in Space Acti- vities 16-4-1981 16-4-1981 95. Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the United King- dom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning Research Collaboration in Scie- nce and Technology under the Colombo Plan for Technical Cooperation 16-4-1981 16-4-1981 96. Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the United King- dom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the Development of the Indian Power Generation Sector 16-4-1981 16-4-1981 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 97. Limited Scope Grant Project Agreement between India and the United States of America acting through the Agency for International Development (AID) for one hundred and twenty five thousand U.S. dollars (pound 125,000) concerning HUDCO Shelter Design and Analysis-AID Project Number 912---0007 16-6-1981 16-6-1981 98. Project Grant Agreement between India and the United States of America for twenty million U.S. dollars (pound 20,000,000) for Private Voluntary Organizations for Health--A.I.D. Project Number 386--0469 31-8-1981 31-8-1981 99. Project Loan and Grant Agreement bet- ween India and the United States of America for four million U.S. dollars (pound 4,000,000 for Madhya Pradesh Social Forestry- A.I.D. Loan No. 386-T-229. AID Project No. 386--0475. 30-9-1981 30-9-1981 100. Grant Project Agreement between India and the United States of America acting through the Agency for International De- velopment (AID) regarding NCAER Rural Household Survey Project--A.I.D. Project Number 386--0486. 30-9-1981 30-9-1981

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1 2 3 4 5 6 101. First Amendment to the Project Loan and Grant Agreement between India and the United States of America for Madhya Pradesh Social Forestry--A.I.D. Loan Number 386-T-229-A. Project Number 386--0475 20-11-1981 20-11-1981 ZAMBIA 102. Trade Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Govern- ment of the Republic of Zambia 8-12-1978 16-5-1981 103. Exchange of letters between the Govern- ment of India and the Government of Zambia for the establishment of a Commis- sion for Economic and Technical Coope- ration 28-5-1981 5-6-1981

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Nov 08, 1968
Appendix II Major International Conferences etc. organised by IGOs

APPENDIX II

Major International Conferences/Meetings/Seminars etc. organised by Inter-Gov
ernmental Organiza- tions (Such as UN and its specialised Agencies like WHO,
ILO, ICAO, FAO, UNDP, UNIDO, IMCO etc.) at which GOVERNMENT OF INDIA was
represented in 1981-82.
Serial No. Title of 
   Conference etc. Foreign Exchan- 
   (with venue and date)ge component 
                                                                               
         of expenditure 
                                                                               
         in rupees 
1                 2         3	Rs. 
 
1.  Committee on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva 
Feb 03, 1981 to 24 April, 1981     
              Nil 
 
2.  High level Meeting to initiate the South Asia 
Cooperative Environment Progr
am- 
    me (SACEP) at Colombo (Sri Lanka), 18-2-81 to
 25-2-81           3,948.34 
 
3.  International Law Commission held in Geneva
 from 17th May, 1981 to 30 June,
  1981                                                                       
            Nil 
 
4.  Third Substantive Session of the United
Nations Disarmament Commission (UNDC)
in New York from 18 May to 5 June, 
1981 54,275.00 
 
5.  22nd Annual Session of the Asian African Legal 
Consultative Committee held 
in Colombo from 24 to 30 May, 1981                                         
       8,731.00 
 
6.  Informal Working Group Meeting of the Legal 
Committee of the Inter-Govern- 

    mental Consultative Organisation (IMCO) held 
in Washington from 1 to 5 June
, 1981                                                                       
      14,198.00 
 
7.  33rd Session of WMO Executive Committee Geneva,
 June 1 to 17 June, 1981    
      20,000.00 
8.  Working Group Meeting of the UNCITRAL on New
 International Economic Order held in Vienna 
from 9 to 18 June, 1981 
 
9.  Committee on Disarmament (CD') in Geneva 
from 11 June to 21 August, 1981   
            Nil 
 
10. 14th Session of the United Nations Commission
 on International Trade Law 
    held in Vienna from 19 to 26 June, 1981   
	26,209.00 
 
11. Seminar on Namibia held at the Hague from 
22 to 24 June, 1981              
            Nil 
 
12. WHO Climatological Data Workshop Asheville,
North Carolina, USA, 20 July to 7 August,
 1981 20,000.00 
 
13. Eleventh Session of the Working Group of 
International Negotiable Instrument 
   held at New York from 3 to 14 August, 1981                                 
            Nil 
 
14. UN Conference on New & Renewable Sources 
of Energy at Nairobi, from 10 to 

    21 August, 1981                                                            
    1,841.55 
 
15. First meeting of 7th South Asian Countries
 Cooperation study group on Meteo
ro- 
    logy under Regional Cooperation, Lodi 
Road, New Delhi, from 2 to 5 Septem- 

    ber, 1981                                                                  
            Nil 
 
16. UNEP Group Meeting of Experts on 
Environmental Law including the Prepara- 

    tory Committee Meeting held in Geneva 
from 7 to 18 September, 1981         
            Nil 
 
17. 25th General Conference of the IAEA--
Vienna from 21 to 26 September, 1981  
       51,200.00 
 
18. 8th Session of WMO Commission for Instruments
 & Methods of Observation, 
 Mexico City, 19 to 30 October, 1981  9,000.00 
 
19. International Conference on the scientific
 results of monsoon experiment, 

 Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, 26 to 30 October, 1981                          
       3,130.38 
 
                             

pg78

1 2 3 20. Ad Hoc Meeting of Senior Government Officials Expert in Environmental Law held at Montivedo from 28 October, to 6 Novemder 1981 Nil 21. WMO RA-II (Asia)/RA-II (S. W. Pacific) Implementation Co-ordination Mee- ting on the Global Telecommunication System, Singapore 30 November to 4 December, 1981 Nil 22. WMO Symposium on Meteorological Aspects of Tropical Droughts held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Dehi from 7 to 11 December, 1981 Nil 23.Information Group Meeting of the Legal Committee of the Inter-Governmental Consultative Committee held in Stockholm from 7 to 11 December, 1981 Rs, 12,349.00 24. 12th Session of the Working Group of International Negotiable Instrument t o be held in Vienna from 4 to 15 January, 1982 Rs, 14,237.00 25. UNESCO Winter Workshop on Monsoon Dynamics, Dacca, Bangladesh, from 11 January to 19 February, 1982 Nil 26. The 21st Session of the Legal Sub-Committee of the U. N. Committee oil the Peaceful Uses of our space to be held in Geneva from 1 to 19 February, 198 2 27. 8th Session of WMO Commission for Atmospheric Sciences, Melbourne (Austra- lia), 8 to 19 February, 1982 Rs. 10,000.00 28. UN Charter Review Committee to be held in Geneva from 22 February, 1982 to 19 March, 1982

pg79

Feb 03, 1981
Appendix III Major Internatjonal Conferences etc organised by NGOs

APPENDIX III

Major Internatjonal Conferences/Meetings/Seminars organised by Non-Governmen
tal Organisa- tions (Such as Asian Productivity Organisation, International
Cooperative Allia nces, International Organisation for Standardisation, etc.,)
in which Indian experts participated i n their personal capacity with Governmental
assistance in 1981-82.
Sl No.Title of the Conference, etc., with venue
 and date Foreign Exchange component Rs. 

1. To attend Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers, Board Exp enditure borne by IEEE of Directors Meeting at San Diego (USA), from Feb 04, 1981 to 17 February, 1981. 2. To attend Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE) -do- Board of Directors Meeting in Chicago as also to attend Publica- tion Board's meeting in New York, from 2 to IO June, 198 1. 3. UN study of the Institutional arrangement relating to the process Exp enses were paid by UN of disarmament from 22 June to 2 July, 1981. 4. To attend Institute of Electricals & Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Exp enditure borne by IEEE Board of Directors Meeting in Galgray (Canada) and for discussion with leaders of the National Engg. Societies in New Zealand, from 19 to 30 August, 1981. 5. To attend annual meeting of various Section Chairmen of Insti- -do- tute of Electricals & Electronics Engineers (IEEE), from 18 to 21 September, 1981. 6. To accompany Institute of Electricals & Electronics Engineers -do- President and to attend various meetings connected with IEEE Work, from 22 to 25 September, 1981. 7. To visit officially, various institutions, laboratories & factories in -do- China, from 26 September, to 9 October,1981. 8. Indian delegation consisting of Shri S.C. Dey., Technical Adviser Rs. 21,827-08 (Boilers) in the Working Group 10 of International Standards Organisation/TC 11/SC-5 Shell Boilers held from 19 to 23 October, 1981 in London.

pg80

Feb 04, 1981
Appendix IV Miscellaneous Major International Conferences

APPENDIX IV

Miscellaneous major International Conferences etc., in 1981-82 at which Gover nment
of India was represented or in which Indian experts participated with Government
of India's assistances in their personal capacity
Sl.Title of Conference etc. with venue and date 
  Foreign Exchange component No. Rs. 

1. 2nd world Instrumentation symposium (India 81) and internatio- NIL nal trade Exposition, Bombay, Apr 15, 1981 to 18 April, 1981. 2. 33rd Annual Conference NAECON,81 organised by National Rs. 8,507.20 Aerospace & Electronics Conference at Dayton (USA),from 19 to 21 May, 1981. 3. Conference on Analysing Problem Classes and Programming for Rs. 9,176.00 Parallet Computing (CONPAR-81) from 10 to 12 June, 1981 organised by Institute of MATHEMATISCHE MASCHINEN AND DATENVERARB-EITUNG, NURNBERG (FRG) 4. IAMAP symposium on the dynamics of the general circulation of Rs. 2,589-95 of the atmosphere, university of Reading, U.K. 3 to 7 August,1981. 5. International Electronics show organised by Electronics Indus-Rs. 19,177.94 tries Assn. of Japan at Osaka (Japan), 7 to 12 Oct. 1981 and Hong Kong, 14 to 16 October, 1981. 6. Symposium on 5th Generation Computer Systems (FGCS) in Rs. 1 4,534-37 Tokyo (Japan) from 19 to 22 October, 1981 organised by Japan In-formation Processing Development Centre,Tokyo, with the support of Ministry of International Trade & Industry (MITI), Japan. 7. System-81 International Congress & Trade Fair at Munich (FRG) from 22 to 23 October, 1981 organized by Export Promotion Rs. 1,800-15 Councils and, Indian. Missions abroad with EEC support. 8. Electronics Symposium & General Assembly of AEU at Bangkok, 2 to 4 December, 1981.

pg81

1981
Appendix V Statement showing number of Passports/Miscellaneous services
Provided

Jan 01, 1981

APPENDIX V

Statement showing number of Passports/Miscellaneous services applications
received and number of Passports issued/Miscellaneous services rendered
during the period January to D ecember 1981.
Sl.Station *Number @Number of Number of Number
 
No. of passport passports  applications of mis
c. 
    applications  issued    for misc.   servic
es 
         received       services      render
ed 
                   received 
 
1.  Ahmedabad  71,864   69,181  28,592  29,42
0 
2.  Bangalore  50,781  47,593   9,625   9,16
8 
3.  Bhopal  15,228   15,627   8,182    7,97
6 
4.  Bhubaneswar 7,921    7,793  5,786  5,78
4 
5.  Bombay  2,61,516  2,57,744  2,62,238 2,54,51
9 
6.  Calcutta  32,068  35,274 15,285 16,61
2 
7.  Chandigarh  81,604  76,042 15,628 15,53
8 
8.  Cochin  1,47,073  1,37,875  94,116 91,76
8 
9.  Delhi  88,286  89,332  40,093 38,75
8 
10. Gauhati  2,114   2,193     455    47
1 
11. Hyderabad  1,03,671 90,186 15,912 15,80
6 
12. Jaipur 64,816 61,322  8,526  8,33
1 
13. Jullundur 1,26,985  98,236 29,347 26,25
4 
14. Kozhikode  1,07,494  83,205 42,086 40,11
5 
15. Lucknow 81,029   74,455 12,043  12,42
9 
16. Madras 2,08,857 1,85,631  30,658  33,73
0 
17. Patna  15,031    16,022  2,375  2,38
6 
18. Srinagar  6,836  5,850   1,265    1,28
0 
 
TOTAL  14,73,174 13,53,561  6,22,212 6,10,34
5 
    Includes closed cases reopened. 
    @Includes cases closed. 
 
    Details of official/diplomatic passports 
issued/serviced by Passport and Visa Division
of the Ministry during 1981 : 
 
(a)Number of official passports issued-7,223 
(b)Number of official passports serviced-3,347 
(c)Number of diplomatic passports issued-1,082 
(d)Number of diplomatic passports serviced-1,110 
 
                             

pg82

1981
Appendix VI Strength of IFS & IFS(B) Cadres, Combined Research
cadre and Interpreters cadre

Jan 01, 1981

APPENDIX VI Strength of IFS & IFS(B) Cadres, Combined Research
cadre and Interpreters cadre
Cadre/Post      No. of posts 
 
Grade I of IFS     18  (excluding 1 post temporar
ily upgraded   from Grade III). 
 
Grade II of IFS   21  (Excluding 1 post temporar
ily upgraded  from Grade III). 
 
Grade III of IFS  80  (excluding 1 post of FA(EA
) and 3 ex-  cadre posts). 
 
Grade IV of IFS           82 
Sr. Scale of IFS         249 
Jr. Scale of IFS         100 
Training Reserve          50 
(Jr.  Scale) 
Leave Reserve            18 
Training Reserve         19 
Deputation Reserve       20 
    IFS(B) 
 
Grade I                  119 
Grade II/III             324 
Grade IV                 916 
Grade V & VI             690 
Grade II Cypher Sub Cadre  195 
Selection Grade of Stenographers' 
Sub Cadre                50 
Grade I of SSC           75 
Grade II of SSC          537 
Grade III of SSC         120 
Combined Research Cadre   45 
(including isolated research posts) 
Interpreter's Cadre  33 
 
                             

pg83

Appendix VII Foreign Language Chart

Jan 01, 1981

APPENDIX VII

Foreign Language Chart
Sl. No. Language    Total No. of officers 
                      Passed/Knows the 
                       language 
 
1.     Arabic                  49 
2.     Burmese                  1 
3.     Chinese                 27 
4.     Czech                  Nil 
5.     Dutch                    1 
6.     French                  85 
7.     German                  39 
8.     Gorkhali                 9 
9.     Hungarian                1 
10.    Bahasa-Indonesia        12 
11.    Italian                  6 
12.    Japanese                14 
13.    Kiswahili               11 
14.    Malay-Bahasa             1 
15.    Persian                 17 
16.    Polish                   1 
17.    Portuguese              13 
18.    Pushtu                   1 
19.    Romanian                 1 
20.    Russian                 46 
21.    Serbo-Croatian           3 
22.    Spanish                 42 
23.    Swedish                  1 
24.    Thai                     2 
25.    Tibetan                  2 
26.    Turkish                  1 
27.    Vietnamese               3 
 
                              

pg84

1981
Appendix VIII Revenue Expenditure of the Ministry

an 01, 1981

APPENDIX VIII

Revenue Expenditure of the Ministry during the Financial Year 1981-82
Estimates                        Revised 
                                 198
1-82 
 
                               (Rupees 
in lakhs) 
 
Headquarters                 70
2.16 
Missions/Posts abroad         459
6.48 
Supply Wing, London and Washington 25
7.08 
 
Other Items 
 
Contribution to U.N., Commonwealth Secretariat
and other International Institutions       35
7.46 
Central Passport & Emigration Organisation 31
5.03 
Other Misc. Items    313
4.82 
 
Aid 
 
Aid to Bhutan           386
3.88 
Aid to Nepal              157
5.00 
Aid to other developing countries in Asia and
 Africa under ITEC Programme    46
8.74 
Aid to Bangladesh         12
7.49 
Social Security & Welfare       4
4.11 
 
TOTAL                     1544
2.25 
 
                             

pg85

1981
Appendix IX Expenditure on Headquarters and Missions/Posts Abroad

Jan 01, 1981

APPENDIX IX

Expenditure on Headquarters and Missions/Posts Abroad during 1981-82 The expenditure during 1981-82 on the Headquarters of this Ministry is expect ed to be of the order of Rs. 702.41 lakhs; a sum of Rs. 113.66 lakhs for Publicity, Rs. 125.95 lakhs for Travel Expenses, a sum of Rs. 456.37 lakhs for Establishment Charges and Rs. 1.99 lakhs for the De partmental Canteens.

The expenditure on Missions and Posts abroad including Supply Wings London and Washington is Rs. 4853. 56 lakhs out of which Rs. 2991.74 lakhs is on establishment charges including foreign and other compensatory allowances and publicity, Rs. 475.62 lakhs on passages for transfers and local tours and Rs. 1386.20 lakhs for official and residential ccommodation. The annual average expenditure per mission comes to Rs. 37.57 lakhs.

The expenditure mentioned above on Headquarters and Missions and Posts abroad included expenditure on External Publicity programmes and activities which works out to approximately 9% of the total expenditure of this Ministry.

pg86

1981

TOP

Appendix X Statement showing the total number of employees

PPENDIX X

Statement showing the total number of employees (Both permanent and temporary) in the Ministry of External Affairs under various groups and representation of Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes therein (position as on Dec 31, 1981).
Group   Total   Scheduled Percentage Schedule
d   Percentage 
         Number of   Castes of Total  Tribes  
    of Total 
              Employees    Employees            
    Employees 
 
Group 'A'    532        38   7.2 %     19  
       3.6% 
 
Group 'B'      1622     125   7.7 %     12  
      0.75% 
 
Group 'C'   868       91   10.5 %      40  
       4.6% 
 
Group 'D' (excluding Sweepers)  470    
       75         16.0 %         3  
       0.6% 
 
Group 'D' (Sweepers)   20    20   100 %     Nil  
        Nil 
 
                             

pg87

Dec 31, 1981
Appendix XI Statement showing the number of appointments

Jan 01, 1981

APPENDIX XI

Statement showing the number of appointments (both by direct recruitment and by promotion) made to various groups of posts and reserved vacancies filled by Scheduled Castes an d Scheduled Tribes during the Year 1981
Group  Total Number of vacan-Number of
reserved Number of vacan- Number cies reserved candidates appointed cies de-reserved of due to non-availabi-vacancies Scheduled Scheduled Scheduled Scheduled lity of reserved filled Castes Tribes Castes Tribes candidates Scheduled Scheduled Castes Tribes Group'A' 67 9 4 8 1 Group 'B' 250 72 48 33 6 41 40 Group'C' 121 38 28 13 19 24 13 Group 'D' (excluding Sweepers) 44 7 2 7 Group 'D' (Sweepers) 5 1 5 MGIPRRND-II-4 EA/81--17-3-82-3,000. 1981
 
 
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