From 50 Years Ago: Umbrellas, Missiles and Talk

Behind Delhi’s apparent calm, much is happening. Finance Minister Morarji Desai, charged with producing a budget which will ‘tax until it hurts’ is wondering what will happen to his respectable political reputation when the country studies his proposals…Union Minister Swaran Singh is building himself up as a man who can ‘negotiate’ with Pakistan, convincingly and full of cordiality, although he knows that the net result of his labours will be practically nil.

...a sharp debate is maturing over the US project of an ‘air umbrella’ for India. The assumption is general that we will not now get the massive military aid which we had earlier sought from the West. This realization at a time when the shortage of foreign exchange is getting more pronounced, has the economic planners in the doldrums…