[Letter from S V Raju]

Summary

In this letter dated June 15, 1971, S. V. Raju writes to the editor of The Times of India about reported remarks by Foreign Minister Swaran Singh at a press conference in Bonn. Singh is reported to have linked economic aid for Pakistan’s reconstruction to corrective political action and an end to repressive policies. Raju questions whether this represented a change in India’s policy from demanding aid without strings attached, and argues that India’s condemnation of Pakistan’s suppression of East Bengal should not be weakened by proposing a solution that might later be used against India.

Raju supports strict supervision of foreign aid because of what he calls the waste of aid within India, while rejecting the idea that an aid-giving country should dictate another country’s internal political affairs. He concludes that India’s foreign minister should not offer foreign governments advice that he would rightly reject if directed at India. The letter therefore combines a critique of Pakistan’s repression with a defence of national sovereignty and consistency in foreign-policy principles.

Key points

• The letter responds to reported comments by Swaran Singh after meetings with Willy Brandt and Walter Scheel in Bonn.
• It examines whether economic aid for Pakistan’s reconstruction should be conditional on political change.
• It maintains that Pakistan’s suppression of East Bengal deserves universal condemnation.
• It warns against proposing aid conditions that could later be applied against India.
• It supports strict supervision of foreign aid because of waste in India’s own use of aid.
• It rejects attempts by aid-giving countries to dictate matters of internal political policy.
• It urges the foreign minister to apply to foreign governments the same standards India would accept for itself.