Q.
Soon after you took over as Foreign Minister you visited Colombo and about a month later Bangladesh. Could you give your personal impressions of these two goodwill visits and of your meetings with the leaders and peoples of these countries?
A.
You will find that my choice for the first two visits fell on India's neighbours. One of my priorities in international relationship was to develop good relationship with neighbouring countries. Later I went to Nepal and Bhutan. I could not go to Pakistan and Burma. No occasion arose to go to Pakistan and Burma, though I was long preparing for such visits. My main point in telling you all this is to show that our priority was —and I think it will always remain — to improve and keep not merely good relations but positively friendly relations with neighbouring countries.
My visit to Sri Lanka was a goodwill visit, and it went off well. This was my first contact with Mrs. Bandaranaike, the then Prime Minister. She was also the Foreign Minister. She was very good and she arranged my going round and visiting their family village and family house. I fondly remember my visit to the simple and austere samadhi of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. It was some sort of gesture on her part — of establishing personal rapport. I met Indians — Sri Lanka citizens of Indian origin rather. It was a three-day visit, which helped me in the discussions with many senior Ministers etc. This was my first visit abroad as a Foreign Minister.
The main purpose of my visit to Bangladesh was to see what was the lay of land for the Farakka negotiations. I came back with the awareness of some of the difficulties inherent in the problem. But I came back also with optimism and felt that with goodwill, the difficulties were not insurmountable. I remember having said in Bangladesh that no friendly countries can take their friendships for granted and that they have to continue to nourish the friendship.
Q.
We have some problems with the minority community in Sri Lanka. Have you any comments to make on this?
A.
I think this problem is governed by the framework of the agreement that was reached between India and Sri Lanka during the days of Lal Bahadur Shastri. But its implementation needs to, be very carefully watched, because it is the method of implementation that matters.
