Diary Entry - 06/12/1985
Key Facts
President Reagan greets the Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi.
President Reagan attends a National Security Council meeting to discuss the sale of weapons to King Hussein I of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Today was supposed to be a rainy one and I’ve been praying since last night. So this morning at 10 A.M. the outdoor mil. ceremony & welcome to the P.M. of India took place in the sunshine on the S. Lawn. Less than an hour after the ceremony it rained.
In our meetings I think we got along fine and that was his purpose in being here. He made it plain to me that while India wants to maintain the friendly relations over the years with the Soviet U. at the same time however he says India does not want the Soviet U. to have a foothold anywhere in S. Asia.
Later this afternoon I met with the Sen. Steering Committee. This is a solid group of conservative Sens. who generally support the Admin. We talked strategy of getting things like budget cuts, the tax reform etc. through the Cong. After this meeting I had an emergency meeting—N.S.C. & Don Regan. We cant get the arms package for King Hussein (Jordan) thru Congress. The Am. Jewish lobby which consistently opposes arms to Arab states. In this case though Hussein is our greatest hope for an Arab-Israeli peace. I have to ask Hussein to let me delay our approach to Cong. about the arms. I can however on my own slip him about 60 Stinger missiles. Good news—Congress passed our aid to Contras bill.
State dinner for P.M. Gandhi was most enjoyable. A good time had by all. Rostropovitch entertained.
