Calcutta, March 8: The Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi to-day charged the United States and China with plotting to incite malcontent in Kashmir. Addressing a public meeting at Talla Park in North Calcutta, Mrs. Gandhi said this was the only valid inference that one could draw from the unwarranted reference to Kashmir in the joint communique issued at the end of U.S. President Mr. Nixon’s recent visit to China. Having failed to cow down India, the two countries were attempting to achieve their objective through certain elements inside Kashmir. But such plots were doomed to failure as were Pakistan’s two attempts to snatch away Kashmir through the might of arms, she declared. Mrs. Gandhi said there was tension in West Asia where Israel was in occupation in Arab territory. A savage war was going on in Vietnam where a small number of determined people were resisting the might of the United States. But China and the United States did not find these world problems worthy of mention in their joint communique, but thought it necessary to mention Kashmir where the people were at present occupied with democratic elections. “Even to-day I read in the newspapers that the United States has accused India of having committed aggression against Pakistan. This is a big lie which is also part of the plot to denigrate and weaken India.”
