September 18, 2025 07:14 AM IST
First published on: Sep 18, 2025 at 07:14 AM IST
Bid to end war
India is likely to take a fresh initiative to end the Iran-Iraq war. At the behest of the Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, the Minister of State for External Affairs, Khurshed Alam Khan, who is leaving for New York on Friday to attend the UN General Assembly session, is expected to contact Iranian and Iraqi delegations in a bid to find common ground to end the war between the two countries. The fresh Indian initiative follows a near-unanimous desire expressed by the foreign ministers of non-aligned countries who had met at Luanda earlier this month for a new attempt by Indian leaders to mediate between Iran and Iraq. Khan had conveyed the general feeling among the member nations for ending the war to the Prime Minister after his return.
ENLF talks to PM
Representatives of the Eelam National Liberation Front (ENLF) conveyed to the Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, their apprehension that the draft proposals evolved by the Sri Lankan government would not meet the aspirations of the Tamils. In what was officially described as a “fairly exhaustive and long meeting”, the Tamil militant leaders are understood to have urged Rajiv Gandhi to prevail upon the Jayewardene government to enforce the ceasefire and stop the killing of Tamil civilians by its security forces forthwith.
Indo-Bangla ties
The Bangladesh military President, Lt-Gen H M Ershad, expressed the hope that some of the outstanding issues between India and Bangladesh would be solved within the next two months. The President was addressing a news conference at Bangabhaban. “The mist is clearing,” he said regarding Indo-Bangla relations. General Ershad said his government was doing its best to maintain a good relationship with India. “It appears that the Indian leaders also feel the same way.”
Draft Seventh Plan
The Planning Commission has approved the draft Seventh Plan. The commission which met under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, envisaged a total public sector outlay of Rs 180,000 crore. Apart from the full-time members of the commission, the meeting was attended by the Defence Minister, P V Narasimha Rao, the Minister of State for Planning, K R Narayanan, V P Singh, the Finance Minister, and Buta Singh, the Agriculture Minister, who is also a member of the planning body.
