NEW DELHI: Mrs Indira Gandhi today [Nov 15] said India wanted the three countries of the Sub-continent — Pakistan, Bangladesh and India — to live and prosper as equals, and co-operate with one another for peace, friendship and the welfare of their peoples.

Replying to questions, the Indian Prime Minister recalled her statement before the Lok Sabha on Dec 17 last year in which she had assured the people of Pakistan that India had no enmity towards them, and would like to fashion “our relations with them on the basis of friendship and understanding. That continues to be our aim,” she reiterated. Denying that any responsible person in India has ever believed that the partition of the Sub-continent could be undone, Mrs Gandhi said, “We have accepted it (partition) as a settled fact.”

Asked to comment on a reported proposal of President Z.A. Bhutto … about a meeting [of officials] … to resolve the deadlock over the delineation issue, Mrs Gandhi said that she had not received any communication to this effect… . The PM hoped that Pakistan and Bangladesh, both neighbours of India, would bilaterally settle the issues between them. — Special representative

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2022