Mr Nehru’s admirers have been distressed by his persistent refusal to blame Russia’s brutal intervention in Hungary in the same outspoken terms that he has applied to the Anglo-French action in Egypt.
He authorised his representative at the United Nations, Mr Krishna Menon, to vote with the Soviet bloc against the resolution calling for a Russian withdrawal. And he has accepted Mr Bulganin’s demonstrably untrue excuse that Russia had intervened in a “fight between Hungarians” only at the request of the legitimate government.
Mr Nehru may have some involved tactical reasons for applying what a disciple of Gandhi last week publicly called a “double standard”. His lapse is particularly unfortunate on the eve of his visit to the United States. Britain’s self-inflicted isolation from Asian opinion and America’s position outside the immediate Suez crisis have made it both necessary and possible that India and the United States should build up a more confident relationship.
Talking point
The French military authorities reported from Algeria today that they have inflicted new heavy loses on the rebels and that in the Constantine Department in a single engagement 26 were killed and 20 taken prisoner.
Observer front page story
Key quote
“There is a chance to show what a nationalised industry can do in a period of national crisis.”
National Coal Board statement as Suez crisis causes oil supplies to dry up
