The World: Four On the Road

(7 of 8)

The occasion was Tito's first state visit to the U.S., and Nixon was determined to make it a welcome to remember. So it was, with three military bands, an honor guard, a fanfare of trumpets and a 21-gun salute. The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, in powdered wigs, tricornered hats and high buckled shoes, turned out to welcome the man who defied Stalin by embarking on his own path to "national Communism" 23 years ago.

Both Presidents obviously delighted in renewing their acquaintance, so much so that capital wits promptly dubbed them "the Odd Couple." At first glance, the two would appear to have little in common. One is a Moscow-trained Communist, World War II partisan hero and spokesman for the Third World, the other a conservative Republican who once specialized in ferreting out Communists. Remarkably vigorous, tanned and erect at 79, Tito stands almost a head shorter than Nixon, though he more than makes up for it with his barrel-chested authority.

Despite their differences, their personal admiration for each other—which blossomed last year when Nixon visited

Belgrade—appears to be quite genuine. Their interests as statesmen, moreover, coincide to a far greater degree than would at first seem possible.

What's He Like? The Yugoslav leader, who has met recently with Soviet Party Leader Leonid Brezhnev, India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Pakistan President Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, has himself gone a long way toward launching the "era of negotiations," to use Richard Nixon's phrase. After the pomp and circumstance on the White House lawn, the two men retired to the Oval Room for a wide-ranging 75-minute discussion. Nixon, who plans to meet with Brezhnev in Moscow some time next year, specifically asked Tito what the Soviet party leader is like.

For the Yugoslavs, the principal item of interest was business. Belgrade's trade with the U.S. receives "most favored nation" treatment, but U.S. exports to Yugoslavia in the past 19 months have been nearly $311 million as against $153 million in imports. Yugoslavia hopes to help offset the unfavorable balance of trade by promoting joint ventures with U.S. companies. The Administration agreed to reschedule $58.6 million in loans accrued by Yugoslavia between 1949 and 1959 that would have fallen due in the next two years.

Third World. In foreign policy, Tito underscored one of his prime concerns —that the superpowers remember the interests of the small- and medium-size nations. Replying to President Nixon's toast at a White House state dinner, Tito raised a glass to the inclusion of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations, interpreting the event as a victory for Third World nations.

On the Middle East, Tito reportedly told Nixon that he favors an interim settlement calling for Israeli withdrawal from the Suez Canal—a position close to that of Egyptian President Sadat —and that Brezhnev had told him all Soviet military personnel would be withdrawn from the Middle East once a settlement was reached. He also said that tensions on the India-Pakistan border had become a more serious threat to peace than either the Middle East or Southeast Asia.