EDITORIAL NOTE
This is the fourth and final Volume of the Selected Speeches of late Shri.Y.B.Chavan in the Parliament. It covers ten years period between 1974-84. Chavan became the Minister for External Affairs of India on October 11, 1974. By that time, he had already been in the Lok Sabha for twelve years. His contribution in the Parliament shows Chavan, not only as a good debater, but also as a mature political statesman.
The volume has been divided into three parts. Part I includes his speeches as Minister for External Affairs. Part II as the Leader of Opposition and also as a member, Part III includes the Obituary references made in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on his death.
As the External Affairs Minister, Chavan stood for firm commitment to non-alignment and fully supported the process of detente between the two superpowers that had then just begun. He visualised the non-aligned movement as a dynamic force and an important instrument for preserving the independence of newly liberated countries and for strengthening the liberation movements in struggle against imperialism, colonialism and recialism. He believed that the tremendous progress made by the Western world and accompanied by technological developments, especially in the field of weapon system, had placed certain restraint on the use of their military power and was in fact leading them towards the Detente.
Y. B.Chavan paid special attention to relations with the People Republic of China. He pointed out that geography had put China and India, two land masses, nearer each other and the two must continue making efforts to improve their mutual relations. According to him, India’s efforts ought to be governed by certain principles, Viz. friendship, world peace and non-alignment. Chavan’s tenure as the Foreign Minister witnessed deterioration in the Indo-Pakistan relations. He repeatedly expressed the Government of India’s sense of disappointment and frustration at the US decision to resume supply of arms to Pakistan. He did not accept the justification offered by the US Administration and bluntly stated, “Either you are deceiving yourself or you are trying to deceive us. It is either of the two.”
