Washington, Feb. 8: An unexpected chill has crept into Indo-US relations following Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s sharp criticism of the US at the One-Asia Assembly in New Delhi on Tuesday and Washington’s caustic rejoinder. This appears to have nullified months of patient efforts by both sides, behind the scenes and publicly, to place their relationship on an even keel. It now seems certain that one of its unfortunate consequences would be a White House ordered “diplomatic delay” in Ambassador Moynihan’s departure for Delhi. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee had cleared his nomination yesterday and sent it to the Senate which approved of his nomination to-day. Mr. Moynihan had hoped to leave for Delhi on Sunday. Present indications are that he may not be allowed to take up his post during the period of strained relations. Since both sides do not apparently want the position to become irretrievable and hope that the latest strain is nothing more than ‘part of the ups and downs’ they had always expected to encounter, the U.S. is trying not to link Mr. Moynihan’s delayed departure with the latest tension. Officials here agreed that it would make it uncomfortably similar to the Swedish episode of last December. When Swedish Premier Olaf Palme likened the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam to Nazi atrocities, Mr. Nixon ordered the U.S. Charge d’ Affaires in Stockholm, who had returned here for consultations, not to return to his post, and told the Swedes not to send their new envoy to Washington in a hurry. If Mrs. Gandhi’s sharp remark about the US role in Asia was unexpected, so was Washington’s equally harsh response.
