- nehru and the era of deterioration, 1947–1964 307
- International Documents on Palestine, 1975, 372.
- For example, see MEA Report 1975– 1976, 75.
- Statement of Foreign Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao, Debates LS, 7:3 (March
26, 1980), 313– 314.
- Hindustan Times (April 12, 1981).
- India has consistently supported “the right of the refugees to have an un-
fettered choice either to return to their homeland or to compensation....
India appreciated the aspirations of the Palestine refugees to return to
their homes. India also took the position that the UN was responsible for
the partitioning of the country and that the rights of the refugees to
choose between repatriation and compensation which had been clearly
recognized in Resolution 194, should be respected.” India, India and Pales-
tine, 51.
- Ibid. It should be noted that India, especially during Nehru’s time, relied
heavily on the authority of the Western historian Arnold Toynbee, known
for his anti- Jewish sentiments and writings, to repudiate these claims.
- India, India and Palestine, 31.
- Statement of the offi cial spokesperson reported in The Hindu (September
18, 1950).
- India, India and Palestine, 31.
- For a detailed and pioneering study, see Harkabi, The Palestinian Covenant
and Its Meaning.
- Asian Recorder 18 (September 30– October 6, 1972): 11016.
- When three Western diplomats were killed in Khartoum in March 1973,
India characterized it as a “condemnable act of lawlessness.” MEA Report
1972– 1973, 33.
- Debates RS, vol. 71 (March 26, 1970), col. 27. Despite this, India could not
prevent its territories from being used for Palestinian acts of violence. Ac-
cording to a study during 1970 and 1984, as many as ten Palestinian acts of
terrorism either originated from or happened in India. They were 1970 (1),
1971 (3), 1974 (1), 1976 (1), 1982 (2), 1983 (1), and 1984 (1). Merari and Elad, The
International Dimensions of Palestinian Terrorism, 119, 130– 142.
- India, Documents of the Gatherings of Nonaligned Countries, 1961– 1979, 203.
Emphasis added. However, Israel had diff erent understanding of Idi Amin’s
“humanitarian eff orts” and thus acted diff erently.
- Nehru and the Era of Deterioration, 1947– 1964
The epigraph to this chapter is taken from Panikkar, A Memorandum on
Hindu- Zionist Relations (April 4, 1947), CZA, S25/7486.
- Edwards, “Illusions and Reality in Indian Foreign Policy,” 49.
- Nehru, however, had deputies to assist him. They were A. K. Chanda (Au-
gust 12, 1952, to May 1, 1957), Syed Mahmud (December 7, 1954 to April 17,
