212. Memorandum From Secretary of State Muskie to President Carter1
[Omitted here is material unrelated to India.]
4. Meeting with Indian Ambassador Narayanan: My meeting with the new Indian Ambassador Friday2 focussed primarily on Brezhnev’s visit to New Delhi.3 The Ambassador said that Brezhnev had offered no fresh insights on Afghanistan, merely reiterating the long-standing Soviet position. He said the Indians had spoken strongly to the Soviets, and called my attention to Mrs. Gandhi’s statement in Parliament drawing a distinction between the Indian and Soviet positions.4 I expressed our concern that the Soviets have not moved beyond the proposal made by the Babrak Karmal regime in May.
The Ambassador said that Poland had not come up in any significant way in the discussions with Brezhnev. I reviewed the outcome of the NATO deliberations, and made a particular point of telling him that the Polish issue seemed to have stiffened NATO resolve on Afghanistan.5
India is preparing to host the Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers meeting in February, where criticism of our naval buildup in the Indian Ocean is likely to be a focus for unfriendly attention. I thought it important to express our disappointment over the one-sided treatment the Indians gave to Indian Ocean issues in statements made during the Brezhnev visit. They frequently single out Diego Garcia for criticism, but ignore Soviet facilities and large Soviet land and air forces nearby. The Ambassador didn’t comment. (S)
[Omitted here is material unrelated to India.]
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Subject File, Box 24, Evening Reports (State): 12/80. Secret. Carter wrote “Ed, C” at the top of the memorandum.↩
- December 19.↩
- See Document 210.↩
- Telegram 26101 from New Delhi, December 15, transmitted the text of Gandhi’s December 15 speech to both houses of the Indian Parliament, where she reported on the Indo-Soviet bilateral discussions. To the Soviet officials, Gandhi said, “we made our perceptions clear and conveyed our serious concern. We expressed our opposition to all forms of outside interference in the internal affairs of other countries whether through the introduction of regular troops or through infiltration and our view that all such interference should stop in order to make possible a political solution.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800596–0325)↩
- Documentation on the NATO deliberations on Poland is scheduled for publication in Foreign Relations, 1977–1980, vol. XXVII, Western Europe.↩