Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev him, twenty minutes before the deposition of the coffin he was asked by the Kremlin custodian Semyon Shornikov to lower the coffin simultaneously with the chime of bells. The funeral was attended by 32 heads of state, 15 heads of government, 14 foreign ministers and four princes. Among the foreign dignitaries to attend the funeral were President and General Secretary Heng Samrin of Kampuchea, Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy of France, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India, President Babrak Karmal of Afghanistan, President Fidel Castro of Cuba, Foreign Minister Huang Hua of China, Yasser Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organization, First
Babrak Karmal in the pre-communist administration of Muhammad Daoud Khan, decreased, turning negative by 1982 at 70.3 million $US. The only economic activity which grew substantially during Karmal's rule was export and import. Karmal observed in the spring of 1983 that without Soviet intervention, "It is unknown what the destiny of the Afghan Revolution would be ... We are realists and we clearly realize that in store for us yet lie trials and deprivations, losses and difficulties." Two weeks before this statement Sultan Ali Keshtmand, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, lamented the fact that half the schools and three-quarters of