ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Russia signed a credit agreement in Moscow yesterday [Jan 22] under which the USSR Government would provide 180 million roubles for financing the cost of machinery and equipment for the Karachi Steel Mill.

… Preliminary discussions are also going on [regarding] the establishment of a training centre in Pakistan for training Pakistanis in metallurgical and connected trades so that a sufficient number of skilled workers and supervisory staff is available to run the steel mill when it goes into operation.

[Meanwhile, as reported by agencies in Saigon] The United States Army today airlifted vitally needed war material into Phnom Penh’s devastated airport to bolster defences against a fresh Communist attack. Giant C-130 cargo planes packed with arms, ammunition, barbed wire and sandbags landed in relay at the airport, which remains closed to all civilian traffic.

The American Command in Saigon said the planes were delivering the military aid under the US military assistance programme for Cambodia.

… There were reports that nearly the whole Cambodian air force was destroyed [along with] civilian aircraft in the fire that raged for several hours, fed by napalm, phosphorescent bombs and fuel.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2021