After two and one-half years of negotiation, an agreement settling claims of the United States against Bulgaria was signed at Sofia on July 2, 1963. Under its terms Bulgaria will pay a lump sum of $3,543,398 in settlement of the claims of United States nationals arising out of war damage, nationalization of property and certain financial debts. Together with the Rumanian lump-sum settlement of 1960, which it closely parallels, the Bulgarian agreement constitutes a unique development in postwar international claims practice, for it follows rather than precedes a unilateral adjudication of the claims by the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, a United States national claims commission acting pursuant to domestic claims legislation. Avoiding some of the problems of its predecessor, so ably considered in an article by a former Department of State attorney, the present agreement “merits analysis, not only for the benefit of private claimants involved, but also for a general understanding of technical, concrete experience in settling international disputes in a day when the chief talk revolves about grandiose schemes of the rule of law.”

As the Permanent Court of International Justice completes the third year of its activities, its r61e in the international life of our time and the prospect for its cumulating contribution to international law begin to stand out more clearly. During 1920, while its Statute was being drafted, the general conception as to its functions was more or less nebulous. In 1921, while the protocol promulgating the Statute was being ratified and while the judges were being chosen, doubts were still being entertained as to the need for the court and the opportunities which would be permitted to it. In 1922, the organization of the court, the promulgation of the rules of procedure and the handing down of three advisory opinions served to beget confidence. The year 1923 was such a busy one for the court, and the satisfaction with its five advisory opinions and its judgment in the Wimbledon case was so general that lawyers began to foresee great activities in store for it, and foreign offices began to count its existence a factor in current international affairs.

In this study of India’s recognition policy the cases of China, Israel, Spain, and Vietnam have been singled out. The reason for selecting these four cases is that they have been a subject of controversy either in India or in the world outside India. It is hoped that the cases might afford a fairly good glimpse of India’s general policy of recognition. The plan is to discuss these cases separately in the general context of India’s relationship with each of these countries, a method that is more likely than any other to help the reader appreciate her policy. Toward the end of the paper a brief statement of general principles of India’s policy is given by way of conclusion.

On September 26, 1991, the International Court of Justice issued an Order recording the discontinuance by Nicaragua of the proceedings in Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua and the removal of the case from the Court’s list. Nicaragua had expressed its wish to discontinue the proceedings against the United States in a letter to the Court of September 12, 1991, in which it cited agreements between the two countries “aimed at enhancing Nicaragua’s economic, commercial and technical development to the maximum extent possible.”

The American Journal of International Law welcomes short communications from its readers. It reserves the right to determine which letters should be published and to edit any letters printed. Letters should conform to the same format requirements as other manuscripts.

Preceding any intelligent discussion of the status of the Panama Canal regarding freedom of passage and inviolability in war, which have so generally and so loosely been spoken of as "neutralization" even in official documents of the latest date, it will be necessary first to examine the treaty obligations of the United States under which the Canal is now under construction, and which define the powers of control over it when it shall be finished.