Foreign Secretary George Brown told the House of Commons today that the British Government thought it was “unrealistic” and “unconstructive” to wait for direct talks between Israel and the Arab states before moving toward a settlement of their disputes. The foreign Secretary’s remarks were made in reply to a question from Laborite MP Stanley Henig who wanted to know if the Government supported direct talks. Mr. Brown said that direct talks certainly should not be excluded.
In New Delhi today, the President of India and Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia both called for a political solution of the Middle East crisis. But Tito maintained, according to JTA dispatches, that while the Arab states were ready for such a solution, Israel was delaying it by her continued occupation of Arab territories. These views on the Middle East were voiced at a banquet given by President Zakir Hussain for Marshal Tito who is visiting India for talks with Prime Minister Indira Ghandi. Tito and Mrs. Ghandi will be joined on Jan. 26 by Premier Alexei Kosygin of the USSR.
President Hussain said that “while we adhere strictly to the principle that the spoils of aggression must be given up, we also adhere to the principle that every state has the right to live in peace and security with its neighbors.” He said he welcomed the current efforts of the United Nations to find a peaceful solution in the Middle East.
Marshal Tito, on the other hand, said “we of course cannot be satisfied with what has been achieved in the U.N. so far in the search for a solution to the crisis in the Middle East and there exists conditions for further constructive action.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
