CALCUTTA: Mr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan Foreign Minister, declared here today [April 16] that if the path for negotiations were not chosen and a settlement of Indo-Pak border conflicts was sought “by a show of force; there could be no settlement and naturally, we shall have to respond to the challenge.” The Minister, on his way from Karachi to Jakarta to attend the tenth anniversary of the Bandung conference, told Pressmen at the airport he was not happy over the border conflicts and wanted the two sides to negotiate for a settlement.

“We have settled our boundary issues with many countries like China, Iran, Burma, and partially we have also done so even with India,” he pointed out. Later at Singapore, Mr Bhutto reiterated that Pakistan did not believe the border dispute with India could be solved by the use of force. On the question of border talks with India, the Minister replied: “We are always prepared to talk. But you cannot do so under the shadow of bayonets”.

[Meanwhile, as reported by agencies from Rawalpindi], President Ayub Khan, who is also the Patron of the Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan, has expressed his pleasure on the National team’s success in the recently concluded Test series against New Zealand. A spokesman of the BCCP [said] that the President asked Mr Fida Hasan, President of the BCCP, to convey his congratulations to skipper Hanif Mohammad and members of the team on their success.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play