ÇANTALAREIN A
Mr Rascotra said they were, but India could probably manage with other sources of oil. In Iran Khomeini alone ran the war; he could close the Straits by his own decision. Sir Julian Bullard noted President Reagan's statement the previous day that he would reopen the Straits by force if necessary. Mr Rasgotra said that India's attitude to the Iran/Iraq conflict was determined by its NAM member- ship. The Iraqis had been asking the Indians for six months to condemn Iran: the Indians had refused, on the grounds that condemnation would do no good if India were to mediate in any way. He thought the moment of fatigue in the war might now have been reached. He could not understand why the French had sold sophisticated aeroplanes to Iraq. Sir Robert Wade-Gery said the Algerian mediation had come to nothing, because the will for peace was absent in Iran. The focus seemed to have shifted to the UN. Mr Rasgotra said that UN resolutions would not help; it was a time for quiet efforts. Sir Julian Bullard said that these had not helped either. Did India not think that a balanced resolution might be useful? Mr Rasgotra said it would do no harm; but the carefully-balanced words of the NAM Summit Communique had brought the war no closer to conclusion. It was an awful war few people wanted it to continue.
8.
The meeting closed at 4.30 p.m.
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