Reagan, Gandhi Meet as Sikhs Protest

While orange-turbaned Sikhs demonstrated outside the gates of the White House, President Reagan pledged Wednesday to Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi that the United States is “steadfastly dedicated to India’s unity.”

The 40-year-old Gandhi rose to power after his mother, Indira, was assassinated last Oct. 31 by her Sikh bodyguards, and the violence of India’s religious disorders formed a backdrop for Gandhi’s morning visit with Reagan.

A senior Reagan Administration official said the issue was raised in the context of a discussion of terrorism but was also reflected in what the official called the “unusual security requirements for this visit.”

The chants of hundreds of demonstrators could be heard while Reagan and Gandhi addressed a sweltering crowd at a welcoming ceremony on the White House grounds. Neither leader showed any reaction to the muted noise of the disturbance.

Streets Closed

Policemen wearing riot helmets stood in front of the White House and several streets surrounding the Executive Mansion were closed during the protest.

Four weeks ago, the FBI said it had broken up a plot by Sikh terrorists in the United States to assassinate the prime minister during the visit, which includes an address to Congress today and a tour of the Johnson Space Center in Houston on Saturday.

Sikhs have asserted that thousands of members of their religious faith have been killed and more are in prison in India as a result of their beliefs. Some Sikh leaders are hoping to separate Sikh-dominated Punjab state from the rest of India, and many members of the religion want greater autonomy for the state.

Greeting Gandhi and his Italian-born wife, Sonia, Reagan said in a brief speech: “The United States remains steadfastly dedicated to India’s unity and . . . we firmly oppose those who would undermine it.” Reagan did not refer to the Sikhs by name.

Wearing Nehru Jacket

The President, in a blue suit, and the prime minister, in a black Nehru jacket such as that made famous by his grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, conferred in private for 30 minutes in the Oval Office. Then they joined their senior aides for a discussion that touched on such bilateral sore points as the conflict in Afghanistan and U.S. military support for Pakistan, which Reagan defended, as well as economic policy and arms control.

“We would like to see a nonaligned country balanced in their nonalignment,” said one senior Administration official, irked by the fact that India has not joined the sharp U.S. denunciation of the 5 1/2-year-old Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and by Gandhi’s criticism of covert U.S. assistance for anti-Soviet Afghan rebels.

“India’s perception of this problem has differed over time somewhat from ours,” the official said. Reagan himself acknowledged that “our countries have areas of disagreement.”

Gandhi’s visit to Washington follows by less than three weeks a six-day trip he made to the Soviet Union, where he was given an elaborate welcome by Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev and a $1.15-billion industrial assistance program.

According to the Administration official, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified by name, Reagan responded to longstanding Indian concerns about U.S. military support for Pakistan by emphasizing that the aid is directed at shoring up Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, and not against India. The five-year U.S. military program in Pakistan is valued at $1.6 billion.

But after lunch with Secretary of State George P. Shultz, Gandhi said, “We are not fully convinced that the U.S. arms to Pakistan are for the Afghan border.”