Musketeers

The precarious cold-war no man's land boasts no D'Artagnan, but it has its own loose version of the Three Musketeers, a dissimilar threesome who feel a need to share their lonesomeness. Yugoslavia's Marshal Tito, India's Jawaharlal Nehru and Burma's Premier U Nu have, as one leading Yugoslav diplomat insists, "a similarity of outlook on present international developments . . ."

It was inevitable that such companions should get to know each other. Last week the introductions got under way. Bluff, tough Marshal Tito packed off with his brightest uniforms, an entourage of 50 Yugoslavs and eight carloads of baggage, to become the first chief of a European state to make a visit to Nehru's India.

Burma's U Nu made a final round of speeches in Communist China, and headed home to be in Rangoon in time to play host for Tito's state visit to Burma.

Medals Jangling. As Marshal Tito sailed into Bombay Harbor on the Caleb, an ex-Italian minelayer, three Indian and two Yugoslav destroyers played escort. Tito, wearing his marshal's grey uniform with medals jangling on the chest, beamed as he was buried in a garland of roses. Said he in English: "I like."

Bombay State's stringent prohibition law was annulled just for Tito, so that his party could bring in whisky and wines. Before a special twelve-car, two-locomotive train carried the visitors the 850 miles to New Delhi, a pilot train went ahead to test the track. Standing on a red carpet to greet Tito were Nehru and Indian President Prasad. In between a flurry of motorcades, polo matches, preparations for a tiger hunt and bows to street crowds,* the Marshal and the Indian Premier closeted themselves for talks about matters of "great significance." Tito's brand of independent Communism has a high curiosity value among Indian intellectuals, who hate capitalism, believe in state planning, and wish there were some nice kind of Communism. Nehru is also intrigued by Tito's ability to stand apart from the West while dependent on it.

Monastic Incantations. Less flashy but perhaps more significant than Tito's arrival in India was U Nu's departure from Red China. The gentle-tongued but hard-minded Burmese Premier had spent 16 days subtly drawing distinctions about Burma's noninvolvement in the cold war. He was generous in his praise of what he had been shown, but not as a product for export: "There is a Burmese saying, 'Every monastery has its own peculiar incantation, and every village has its own favorite song.' "

He praised the Chinese for being generous and brave, but then coupled that with a sentiment not heard in China since the Communists took over: "As a people, the Americans are very generous and brave. In the sphere of scientific knowledge the Americans have developed to such an extent that they can make this world a happy and prosperous place to live in." He would, he said, now like to visit the U.S. too.

Having made his point, U Nu headed home to put heads together with Marshal Tito.

*A poll taken before Tito's arrival indicated that only six-tenths of 1% of Indians had ever heard of Tito. In the same poll, a number of Indians thought Red China's Foreign Minister is a man named Dienbienphu.

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