CONTENTS

Founder-Editor: Sachin Chaudhuri Vol IX No 3 January 19, 1974 Skylark 284 Frere Road Bombay 400 001
Grams Econweekly Editor Krishna Raj Assistant Editors Rajani X Desai, Jawid Lalq Business Managar A Fernandes-Prabhu Editorial Staff Colin do Souze, Ashok Rao, A A Dalvi FACED with a major foreign exchange crisis as a result of the sharp rise in the cost of petroleum, imports, the government continues to fumble. There is still no visible seriousness about shifting the energy base of the economy to coal. Instead, the government's primary preoccupation appears to be with negotiating with some of the oil exporting countries to ensure undiminished and, if possible, larger imports of oil. The problem of paying for these imports is apparently proposed to be tackled by seeking credits from the oil exporting countries. The red carpet rolled out for the Iranian delegation visiting New Delhi to discuss nebulous proposals of economic co-operation between the two countries has to be seen in this context. The simultaneous despatch of the Planning Minister to Iraq for negotiating credits was a rather crude attempt to put pressure on Iran. The Iranians have, however, refused to oblige. The joint press statement issued at the end of the talks with the Iranian delegation contains no reference to agreement on any specific proposals; there is no mention even of broad agreement in principle on any projects for co-operation in industry or trade. The Iranians perhaps want to assess India's performance in its dealings with Iraq before committing themselves to any specific proposal. Thus there is to be another round of talks in Teheran next month.