South Wind

the late B C Roy negotiated with Belgrade for Yugoslav help in some of his projects for West Bengal. What, a mere State Government talking direct to a foreign Government! Similar suprise and dismay could be seen when EMS Narnboodiripad seemed poised for a take-off to the Kremlin for seeking aid independently of Delhi. That one should have been reminded of these two precedents by the recent visit to West Bengal by Mysore's Chief Minister, S Nijalingappa, may be a measure of the fragile nature of the Indian Union. This visit was remarkable in other ways too. In the USA it is not at all unusual for individual States to invite investment on the basis of concessions and advantages offered. In India it may be the first time a Chief Minister has gone to another State to sell the investment possibilities of his own.