Movement in India
The development of greatest interest regarding India in the few days is not the very useful and creditable debate in the House Commons last week—eliciting as it did from Mr. Amery both assurance that the Cripps offer still stood, and the declaration important as industrial reconstruction in India was, " there could no question of using economic development to sidetrack the polit issue "—but the announcement that Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Jinnah to meet this month to discuss the formula drawn up by Mr. Raja palachari. Mr. Jinnah was on Saturday given full authority by All-India Moslem League to negotiate with the Mahatma, with wh such authority, so far as Congress is concerned, is taken for grant This is clearly a step forward, though Mr. Jinnah's comments on A Gandhi's recent statements are not such as to encourage any hi hopes of agreement emerging from the coming conversations. outstanding advance made by Mr. Gandhi was his recognition of principle of Pakistan. But what Mr. Jinnah cares about is not principle, but the actuality, and in his view " Mr. Gandhi is offeri the shadow and husk of a maimed and mutilated Pakistan." Mot over, Mr. Rajagopalachari has stated that the formula he gave to Jinnah is incapable of modification—a take-it-or-leave-it form approach hardly likely to conciliate the Moslem spokesman, s would thus be debarred from becoming a Moslem negotiator. Ha ever, the great thing is that the ice has been broken, and that two great parties are in contact for the first time in four ye Agreement between Indians themselves on the constitution of self-governing India of the future has always been the essen preliminary to agreement between India and Britain. If preliminary condition is about to be fulfilled there will be good reason for satisfaction in London as in Bombay or Cala or Madras.
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