From the Archives (December 3, 1971): India won’t submit to Western pressure: P.M.

December 03, 2021 12:15 am | Updated 12:18 am IST

New Delhi, Dec. 2: The Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, declared here to-day that it did not worry India at all as to who called it aggressor when it had not committed any aggressions. Making an obvious reference to the latest newspaper comments from London that Britain might describe India again as an aggressor, Mrs. Gandhi said: “Times have changed during the last five years. If any country thinks that by calling us aggressor it can pressure us to forget our national interests, then that country is living in its own paradise and it is welcome to that.” Mrs. Gandhi was addressing the Congress workers of Delhi who had assembled at her residence this morning to express their solidarity at this time of crisis. Mrs. Gandhi said: “The times have passed when any nation sitting three or four thousand miles away could give orders to Indians on the basis of their colour superiority as they wished. India has changed and was no more a country of natives. To-day we will do what is best in our national interests and not what these so-called big nations would like us to do. We value their friendship, help and aid but we cannot forsake the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

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