When Indira came to power in 1966 , Lyndon Johnson was the US president . At that time , India was reliant on US for food aid . Indira resented the US policy of food aid as a tool in forcing India to adopt policies favored by the US . She also resolutely refused to sign the NPT ( Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons ) . Relations with US strained badly under President Richard Nixon and his favoring of Pakistan during the Bangladesh liberation war . Nixon despised Indira politically and personally . Indira met President Ronald Reagan in 1981 for the first time at the North – South Summit held to discuss global poverty . Indira had been described to him as an ' Ogre ' but he found her charming and easy to work with and they formed a close working relationship during her premiership in the 1980s
North – South Summit
North–South Summit
Indira Gandhi