NEW DELHI: Mr Rajiv Gandhi’s return to the city last month from his much publicised tour of the USSR and Iran would have been delayed somewhat had it not been for friend Adnan Khashoggi. The ‘special aircraft’ in which the Congress (I) president flew in from Dubai on February 28 concluding a whirlwind six-day tour belonged to the international arms dealer and was not courtesy the rulers of the UAE as made out earlier.
Confirming these highly placed official sources here said on Monday that Khashoggi’s aircraft later ferried godman Chandraswami who happens to be his guru and Janata Dal (S) leader Om Prakash Chautala to London. Mr Chautala was granted an entry visa when he arrived in London on March 2 the day the two Haryana policemen keeping a watch on the Gandhi household were detected.
Mr Rajiv Gandhi’s entourage included other than Mrs Sonia Gandhi Mr Natwar Singh former minister of state for external affairs Mr Romesh Bhandari former foreign secretary and Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar Mr Gandhi’s special aide.
The Congress (I) president boarded a commercial flight to Moscow on February 23 the beginning of his Gulf peace mission. He reached Moscow the same afternoon and then had a four hour tete-a-tete with Mr Gorbachev hours after the Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz flew out of the Soviet capital announcing that Baghdad fully endorsed and supported a six-point Soviet peace plan.
The Gandhi delegation left for Teheran via Frankfurt the next day the decisive Sunday on which the coalition forces launched their ground offensive against Iraq.
On February 25 Mr Gandhi met Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati in the evening. Mr Digvijay Singh the Indian deputy minister for external affairs too was in Teheran discussing a possible NAM (non-aligned movement) initiative with his counter-parts Budimar Loncar of Yugoslavia Issador Malmierca of Cuba and Velayati.
Gandhi met President Hashemi Rafsanjani in Teheran the next day. The meeting in which the two leaders expressed concern about the post-war regional security set-up apparently lasted for two hours.
The Congress (I) leader was in Sharjah and Dubai on February 27 meeting the UAE leaders and again discussing the post-war scenario.
He returned to New Delhi the following day after the announcement of a ceasefire in the Gulf. And the aircraft in which he flew in belonged to Adnan Khashoggi said sources.
The arms dealer while he was in Delhi in January met Mr Gandhi at his residence at 10 Janpath. And only the night before he flew to Moscow Mr Gandhi while at a dinner hosted by Mr P. Chidambaram former minister of state for home affairs admitted having met Khashoggi saying as an opposition leader he was free to meet anyone.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 15, 1991
