Auction of Gandhi`s items to stop if terms agreed upon: Otis

New York, Mar 5 (PTI) The American owner of Mahatma
Gandhi's five personal items Thursday said he will stop their
auction if the Indian government agrees to the conditions set
by him.

"Once the final details are hammered out, I will then
will go to the auction house and I will stop the auction. I
will stick to the auction honour and then we'll come to an
agreement and then hopefully, we'll hand out the items to the
Indian government," said memorabilia collector James Otis.

In his proposal to Indian negotiators hours before the
scheduled auction of the articles including the Mahatma's
iconic metal-rimmed glasses, Otis asked New Delhi to
"substantially" increase the proportion of its budget spent on
health care for the poor.

"We proposed to them suggestions in exchange for
stopping the auction and getting the items (across) to the
Indian government. They were very, very positive about our
proposals and we have actually come up with a draft that we
worked on for over an hour in their offices and they very
generously agreed to the terms," he told NDTV.

Otis said, "And now we'll be sending the draft to Delhi
for Delhi to review it and if Delhi then agrees upon the
draft, we'll send in experts tomorrow morning to the (Indian)
Consulate (in New York) to work out all of the many details of
the spirit that the draft has generated".

Otis said he would be "very happy" to allow the Mahatma's
personal effects to be in India.

"Nothing makes me happier than allowing these items to be
in India, and support non-violence and Gandhi's great works,"
the American collector said. PTI