- Dayan, Breakthrough, 29. Desai, however, denied ever having made such state-
ments. Personal interview with Desai in Bombay (October 22, 1987). Similarly,
Desai’s secret meeting with Foreign Minister R. S. Botha of apartheid- ruled
South Africa in Frankfurt in June 1979 led to a huge uproar in India.
- Statements of Foreign Minister Rao, Debates LS, series 7, vol. 4 (June 12,
1980), 16, 173– 174.
- Rikhye, “Dayan, Desai, and South Africa.”
- Reddy, “Dayan Paid Secret Visit During Janata Rule: PM,” The Hindu (May
11, 1980).
- “Dayan Visit Tarnished India’s Image, Says Narasimha Rao,” Hindu-
stan Times (June 13, 1980).
- Patriot (June 13, 1980); Statesman (June 13, 1980).
- The Hindustan Times (June 9, 1980).
- Bahbah, “Israel’s Private Arms Network,” 10; and Shichor, “Israel’s Military
Transfer to China and Taiwan,” 73– 74.
- Rikhye, “Dayan, Desai, and South Africa.”
- Weizmann met Desai in London prior to Dayan’s visit. Personal interview
with Desai in Bombay (October 22, 1987). Desai’s principal secretary, V. Shan-
kar, visited Israel in June 1979.
- Taiwan and apartheid- ruled South Africa were the other two countries
where Indian passports were declared not valid.
- Tr ibun e (Chandigarh) (November 10, 1979).
- For details, see Bhambhri, “Lok Sabha Elections, January 1980.”
- Janata (New Delhi) 33 (November 5, 1978): 19. He expressed his “shock”
when Dayan’s visit was disclosed in May 1980.
- The Hindustan Times (May 24, 1980). See also Gandhi, The Morarji Papers,
235– 236.
- Sunday Observer (Bombay) (June 27, 1982).
- Periodic tit- for- tat expulsions of Indian and Pakistan diplomats are an
exception.
- Personal conversations with Israeli diplomats in Jerusalem in July and Au-
gust 1988.
- Avimor, ed., Relations Between Israel and Asian and African States, 382.
- Kumaraswamy, “India, Israel, and the Davis Cup Tie 1987.”
11. Prelude to Normalization
The epigraph to this chapter is taken from N. R. Mohanty, “Jewish Leader
Finds Rao Pragmatic,” Times of India (November 23, 1991).
- Ever since his elevation to general secretary of the ruling Congress Party in
1981, he was groomed as a successor to Indira Gandhi.
- While Rajiv accompanied his mother during foreign tours, his exposure to
international diplomacy was limited. This was in contrast to the experiences
316 10. years of hardened hostility, 1964– 1984
