NEW DELHI: An Indian Government statement here today [Feb 19] said India has formally offered to conduct direct talks with Pakistan “at any time, at any level and without preconditions”… . The Indian offer, the statement added, [was] made last Monday [Feb 14] by Mr Samer Sen, Indian representative at the United Nations, through UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim. The Indian letter hoped Pakistan would respond “in a positive and constructive manner”. Meanwhile, sources close to the Indian Foreign Ministry said … the demand made … by President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto that all Pakistan prisoners of war be released unconditionally is not to be taken seriously by the Indian Government. — News agencies

[Meanwhile, according to a report from Peshawar,] Khan Abdul Wali Khan, President of the National Awami Party, said here today [Feb 19]: “It was most unfortunate that the PPP Central Committee should have chosen to decide on the continuation of Martial Law indefinitely and thereby taking a line diametrically opposed to the unanimous stand taken by all the political parties.” ...“The only justification they seem to find for the continuation of Martial Law is that, because people tolerated General Yahya’s Martial Law, they have no reason to object to Awami Martial Law”… .

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2022