Visit of Prime Minister Desai of India White House Statement on the First Meeting With the Prime Minister.

President Carter and Morarji Desai, the Prime Minister of India, met privately for approximately 25 minutes in the Oval Office and in the Cabinet Room for an additional 45 minutes.

The President began by recalling his meeting with the Prime Minister in New Delhi last January and expressing his personal pleasure at this opportunity to welcome the Prime Minister to Washington. He noted that this second visit will build upon the close personal ties and mutual confidence they established in New Delhi.

The President expressed the hope that the significant improvement in bilateral relations over the past year, marked by a comprehensive exchange of correspondence between them and their exchange of visits, would be continued and deepened, building upon the shared values of the American and Indian peoples.

They particularly welcomed increasing trade, economic cooperation, the work of the Indo-U.S. Joint Commission, and the American response to Indian requests for improvements in the handling of student visas.

In this morning's meetings, the President and the Prime Minister discussed a wide range of major international issues of common concern. They devoted special attention to questions of peace and security in the world. The President reviewed the current status of our SALT negotiations with the Soviet Union and the prospects for the conclusion of a comprehensive test ban (CTB).

The Prime Minister and the President discussed their relationships with the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China.

They touched upon the upcoming meeting of the UNHRC [United Nations Human Rights Commission] to be held in Geneva this September, and President Carter reviewed recent improvements in human rights in several areas of the world.

The Prime Minister reviewed with the President his recent talks with the leaders of the EEC, Prime Minister Tindemans of Belgium, and Prime Minister Callaghan of Great Britain.

They also discussed the need for the peaceful resolution of the Ethiopia-Somalia conflict and the right of the peoples of Zimbabwe and Namibia to sovereignty and independent development.

Turning to issues of importance to the South Asia region, the President and the Prime Minister discussed the events in Afghanistan and their importance to recent stability in the region. They agreed that every effort must be made to ensure that countries of the region, while preserving their independent personalities, can continue the process of promoting beneficial cooperation on the basis of trust and stability which would be advantageous to the area as a whole.