Q.
What are the directions in which friendliness and co-operation between India and our very close neighbours can be promoted.
A.
The permanent base for friendship between countries is the promotion of greater understanding among them. It can mainly be carried through cultural exchanges and economic co-operation on an ever-widening scale among them. I do not believe in the theory of permanent interests and by inference of impermanent friendship elsewhere. If one looks at the world as a whole, as Gandhiji and Nehru did, one has a permanent interest in improving the living standards of the poor all over the world. One should look at the world as a whole, with India as a part of it. It is my unshakeable belief that the erosion of liberty anywhere and the impoverishment of people in any part of the world will have its repercussion in the other parts in some form or other. Nehru said: "You must keep looking at the world as a whole"— not fragmented, in the political language of today. There is no doubt that India needs assistance from the developed countries. But there is also not an iota of doubt that India can also help the developed countries in its own way.
To conclude, I think that the compulsion of political events in international affairs should be such that they help to attain an ever-increasing level of understanding and friendship with other countries. We have to work towards the birth of a new economic order which helps the transfer of resources from the developed to the developing countries within the framework of a harmonious and peaceful one world.
