Zhirinovsky Would Reunite India, Pakistan

NEW DELHI - In the world according to Russian opposition leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Moscow would donate a vast portion of its dismantled military arsenal to India - free of charge - and would return Pakistan and Bangladesh to India.

He also would ask Afghanistan to give up a chunk of its territory so Russia and India could share a common border, and he would compensate Afghanistan with a sliver of Iran.

India's official hierarchy has been somewhat embarrassed by the outspoken Russian's three-day visit.

Much to the chagrin of Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, Zhirinovsky decided to take the Indian leader up on a general invitation Rao made to Russian legislators during a trip to Moscow last summer.

India's government has attempted to keep Zhirinovsky and his 10-member delegation at arm's length. He has been meeting with members of India's Parliament, including leaders of its more liberal parties.

"Look at these fools in Moscow disbanding armies and destroying so many tanks, fighters, bombers and battleships, and missiles, under American pressure," he told one of India's leading political journalists, Shekhar Gupta.

"Instead, if they had any sense in their drunken heads, they should send them all to India, free," he said.

Zhirinovsky told Indian journalists Sunday that Pakistan and Bangladesh should be returned to India. "When I was born in 1946, there was only one India, no Pakistan," he said. "I would like to see India become one again before I die."

In the same breath, he advocated that Afghanistan give up some of its territory so Russia's border would touch India - a long-dead, post-World War II proposal.

Throughout his trip, he has declared that he wanted "Russian soldiers to wash their boots in the Indian Ocean."