Indian troubles
Mrs Gandhi's death has changed many things, among them the possibility of a war this year between India and Pakis- tan, to which Dhiren Bhagat drew atten- tion several months ago in the Spectator ('Prophesying war', 14 July). Many at the time, even in military circles, discounted the suggestion. Yet last week when Gener- al Zia was asked by Newsweek whether Pakistani soldiers in Saudi Arabia had been withdrawn in preparation for a war with India, he replied: 'The withdrawals did not occur, but you are right: there was a tense situation, there were war clouds.' The importance of such a war should not be underestimated. In the first issue of Détente, a journal of international relations recently launched by the Leeds University department of politics, a Russian staff officer, 'Colonel X', remarked: 'Europe is stable, but what starts elsewhere will finish in Europe. One very unstable region, to which in my opinion public opinion pays too little attention, is the Indian subconti- nent. I fear there will be a sixth Indo- Pakistani war, with the USA and China drawn in on the side of Pakistan and the USSR on the side of India.' A war next year? The tragic internal troubles of India, of which the assassination of Mr Norris is the latest sign, have distracted attention from the possibility of external trouble.But that possibility undoubtedly still exists.
(In p. 16 Paul Johnson complains of the V abuse of words which incessant dis- cussion of politics brings about. One word which is now losing independent meaning is 'fortuitous'. As used now, for example by the Sunday Times this week, it seems to mean fortunate; sometimes it is used to suggest a sort of covert planning — the opposite of its meaning. What it actually means is — but it will be an odd fortuity if any Spectator reader does not know what it means.
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