CAIRO: A little Afro-Asian summit conference was held here today [June 28] when President Ayub Khan of Pakistan held important talks with President Nasser of the UAR, President Soekarno of Indonesia, and Prime Minister Chou En-lai of China. President Ayub was making his stopover here on his way back home after attending the Commonwealth Prime Ministers and Presidents Conference in London at the “express desire” of the three leaders, according to reliable sources here.

The three leaders had sent a joint message to London shortly before the Pakistan President’s departure, these sources added. President Ayub held a two-hour conference with the three top Afro-Asian leaders on vital problems. The talks were held at President Nasser’s private residence.

[Meanwhile, as reported by our correspondent from Rawalpindi] the Finance Minister, Mr Mohammad Shoaib, today stated in the National Assembly that if at any time it was found that any of the aid giving countries were attaching strings to their aid Pakistan would follow the policy which he had enunciated in his Budget speech. The Finance Minister was referring to the passage in his Budget speech in which he had said: “We welcome foreign assistance from any source as long as it is available without any political strings and we can use it productively and economically.”

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2015

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