NEW DELHI: An inadvertent remark by Indian Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar on the Soviet economy sparked off a Furor in the Rajya Sabha is (upper house of the Parliament) Tuesday.
Opposition members particularly Goudas Das Gupta of the Communist Party of India and Jaipal Reddy of the Janata Dal objected to the prime minister’s remark that drastic economic changes in the Soviet Union would have had serious repercussions but “for the KGB and its strong army”.
The members protested the observation saying it amounted to “denigration of the Soviet Union”.
The prime minister immediately clarified that his observation was not made in a “disparaging Spirit” and that it was regrettable that the members had misunderstood him.
He said he was only quoting reports that had appeared in some foreign journals including the Soviet ones.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 8, 1991
