
From The Hindu, April 25, 1975: Israel's independence — Soviet offer
Mr. Gromyko also re-affirmed his Government's support for a reconvened Geneva peace conference, but urged thorough preparation so that the forum should not become as empty 'fanfaronade.'
If Israel's leaders wanted to ensure the peaceful development of their country, they simply had to abandon plans to annex other people's territories, the Foreign Minister declared.
'Israel may get, if it wishes so, the strictest guarantees with the participation — under an appropriate agreement — of the Soviet Union,' he said. 'These guarantees would ensure peaceful conditions for the existence and development of all States in the Middle East,' Mr. Gromyko said.

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4 hours ago
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History Today: When the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia
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After an 11-month journey covering nearly 500 million kilometres, Viking 1 entered Mars' orbit in June 1976. On July 20, 1976, exactly seven years after the Apollo 11 Moon landing, the lander touched down on Chryse Planitia, becoming the first successful US spacecraft to land and operate on Mars. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Launch of Viking 1 from Launch Pad 41 at the Cape The mission's goals were groundbreaking - to analyse the Martian soil for biological activity, study the atmosphere, and capture high-resolution images of the surface. Viking 1 sent back stunning photographs of barren landscapes, red deserts, and rocky plains, giving humanity its first close-up view of Mars. Its experiments revealed intriguing but inconclusive chemical reactions in the soil. While not definitive proof of life, these findings shaped decades of debate about the planet's habitability. 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Business Standard
5 hours ago
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