47out a royal red-carpet reception, and when she arrived in Riyadh, she was
received by Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister Prince Fahd. A few
months earlier both had met during the Cancun Summit in October 1981
and sought to reach out. On 19 April Indira Gandhi had an audience with
King Khalid and both the leaders agreed on the need to ‘curb’ superpower
influence in the region. Expressing concerns over the ongoing Iran-Iraq
War, they called for ‘renewed’ efforts by NAM and OIC to bring about an
early end. The Saudi media hailed the visit as a serious endeavour to bridge
the prolonged ‘communication gap’ that existed between the two coun-
tries (Reuters 1982 ).
At the end of the visit, a 24-paragraph joint communiqué was issued
outlining their accomplishments, political convergences and shared world-
views. Expressing satisfaction over “the age-old Indo-Arab relations”
rooted in “history and tradition” the leaders recognized that in “recent
years” the bilateral relations “have developed into a multidimensional rela-
tions” (India, Foreign Affairs Record 1982 , 134). In their view, the future
development of this would be “to the mutual benefit” of both the peoples
“on the basis of equality and mutual respect.” Recognizing that “the sta-
bility and security of the Gulf region and that of the Indian subcontinent
were closely interlinked” Indira Gandhi and King Khalid, called for “closer
and regular contacts (and) ... deeper and more diversified” bilateral
exchanges towards strengthening “security and stability of their respective
regions.”
Conscious of the Saudi sensitivities, the communiqué devoted consid-
erable attention to Pakistan and recognized India’s efforts towards nor-
malization of relations with its neighbour and underscored the need to
maintain “an atmosphere conducive” for further Indo-Pakistani negotia-
tions towards attaining “non-aggression and the non-use of force.” In
their view, the consolidation of relations “would serve the interests of the
peoples” of the two South Asian neighbours. As discussed elsewhere the
Arab-Israeli conflict highlighted their interest convergence.
The joint communiqué referred to a host of other issues such as ‘great
power presence’ in the Indian Ocean, ‘situation’ in Afghanistan, the Iran-
Iraq War and the deteriorating global economy. Accepting and recogniz-
ing the mutual differences, both sides called “for a just and comprehensive
settlement” of the Afghan situation based on “the withdrawal of all for-
eign troops, strict observance of the principle of non-intervention and
non- interference and full respect for the independence, sovereignty, terri-
torial integrity and non-status of Afghanistan and its membership” of the
OIC (India, Foreign Affairs Record 1982 , 135).
DRIFTING APART