WSN Service
NEW DELHI: Early Indian reactions to developments in the Soviet Union indicated that Delhi had virtually ditched former President Mikhail Gorbachev.
The Indian official media blacked out the news of the Moscow coup for several hours on Monday. Prime Minister Narasimha Rao made comments in the afternoon on the developments but his remarks concealed rather than revealing the govt’s mind.
Rao said the ouster of Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was a warming that any leader who chalks out plans for the future should take each step cautiously. Speaking at a Rajiv Gandhi birthday function the Prime Minister took note of friendship between Rajiv Gandhi and Gorbachev and in this connection mentioned their respective contributions for the improvement of the _ lot of their people.
No one could make out from Rao’s speech whether India regretted Gorbachev’s ouster or was in favor of the new regime. Pro-govt agencies reported that India was watching the developments following the removal of Gorbachev according to India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Eduard Faleiro At the same time the Minister described the developments as an internal affair of the Soviet Union 7
Interestingly India showed no sympathy for Gorbachev nor any interest in his health particularly when the new Soviet establishment claimed that the President’s poor health was the cause of his removal For years India had been proclaiming that President Gorbachev was its tried and tested friend
According to reports from Moscow Indian ambassador Alfred Gonsalves was quick to get in touch with the new Kremlin leadership to be assured in a brief message that Soviet Union would continue to attach priority to Indo-Soviet relations. The new authorities told the ambassador that President Gorbachev’s ouster was the culmination of serious internal developments which were threatening to cause disintegration of the Soviet Union.
The Indian Communist parties which have been propping up the minority govt of Prime Minister Rao have not concealed their sense of satisfaction at the removal of President Gorbachev at the hands of anti-reform hardliners.
In fact no Indian national party left any significant support to President Gorbachev’s bold reforms in the last few years although most of these parties had been vaguely mentioning the reforms. In any case no leading Indian politician effectively pleaded for initiating any such reform movement in India. Consequently the emphasis in India all along had been on crushing all nationalistic movements in Punjab Kashmir Assam Tamilnadu and elsewhere.
Prominent academics and policy experts here said the removal of Mikhail Gorbachev as the president of the Soviet Union was primarily aimed at preventing the signing of the treaty of the union Aug.20. This would have strengthened his hands.
They predicted violence in case the new leadership resorted to suppression of popular dissent.
They however did not expect any significant change in the Indo-Soviet relations.
K.R.Narayananan former minister of state for external affairs said Gorbachev’s removal was very much feared though not expected.
The hardliners Narayan said felt that the liberalization process was going too far including the exclusion of the communist party from the decision making process.
Participating in a discussion on TV organized by the PTI-TV Sitaram Yechuri (CPM) opined that the forces unleashed by Perestroika attempted to dismember the Soviet Union.
Unnikrishnan the executive director of PTI said that sore of the changes that have come in the last five years were not irreversible at all.
Unnikrishnan felt that reactions to the house arrest of Gorbachev and the way he had been dealt with would be too strong to let the new people way.
He expected a kind of bloodbath in some of the Soviet republics where the hope had been high for freedom and the fruits of freedom.
On the future prospects of Indo-Soviet relations Narayan did not expect any substantial change in bilateral ties. The Indo-Soviet relations had basically remained the same from Stalin to Gorbachev era he said.
L.K. Gujral former external affairs minister said the Indo-Soviet relationship was an abiding factor. The change was not bad from India’s point of view he felt.
Gujral said in the recent past it had become difficult for India to negotiate on defence and other matters as the central authority was disintegrating in the Soviet Union
However A K Damodaran a retired diplomat said Gorbachev’s departure might not mean centralisation of authority in the Soviet Union.
India is watching the situation in the Soviet Union following the removal of president Mikhail Gorbachev minister of State for external affairs Eduardo Faleiro said Monday.
It is an internal development in the Soviet Union Faleiro told PTI.
Asked about the impact of the developments on the Indo-Soviet relations he said the changes could not in any way affect bilateral relations.
Narasimha Rao said the developments resulting in the removal of president Mikhail Gorbachev was a warning to all those who want to bring about changes.
It is a warning to those who blindly follow the beaten track he said adding it was imperative that we will have to prepare our own course cautiously to take the country SLL forward. path of socialism.
In a statement here it said significant and major political developments have taken place in that country with the declaration of & state of emergency
The emergency was declared to overcome the profound and comprehensive crisis political ethnic and civil strike cha i Security of its sovereignty territorial integrity freedom and independence.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 23, 1991
