INDIA: One of Those Weeks

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When Nehru rose in Parliament to make his statement, the House was packed, hushed and expectant. But the M.P.s quickly discovered that, in one thing, the Prime Minister is completely predictable: he stands by his friends, no matter what. The uproar in the armed forces, said Nehru airily, was a trifling matter concerning the promotion of a single unnamed major general to the rank of lieutenant general. Under the circumstances, he said, Thimayya's resignation "seemed to me not the right thing at all. I advised him to withdraw it, and he accepted my advice." Then, as M.P.s sputtered and Krishna Menon leaned back comfortably, his legs crossed and his silver mane cushioned on a green upholstered bench, Nehru concluded with a ringing tribute to Menon's "great energy and enthusiasm." He did not bother to explain why, in the midst of the worst military crisis in Indian history, he still planned to send Menon off to New York to employ his great energy as head of India's U.N. delegation.

Pale & Haggard. The week's events did not augur well for Nehru's interview at New Delhi airport with General Mohammed Ayub Khan, the strongman leader of Pakistan, which used to be the only nation that Indian leaders could be said to hate, and the only one—until Red China —that independent India had fought. The two heads of state discussed "matters of mutual interest" for nearly two hours, and parted with a great show of amity. Said General Ayub: "I, as a military man, can foresee one danger, and that is, if we go on squabbling in this way and do not resolve our problems, we shall be defeated in detail. History tells us this is how invasions have always come to this subcontinent." Nehru said nothing for the record, but reporters noted that when he arrived in his black Cadillac, he looked pale and haggard, and his heavy-lidded eyes suggested a sleepless night. When he left, he seemed far happier and brighter. It was the one grace note in a week of sour discord.