QUETTA: President Z.A. Bhutto has assured the tribesmen of Marri and Bugti areas that his Government would do everything possible in bringing prosperity and ameliorating their lot. He said that the people of these areas, which had been kept neglected for long, would be provided basic amenities of life and no effort would be spared for removing ignorance, hunger and disease. He was addressing meetings at Mawand and Dera Bugti areas today [June 15].

He told the Mawand meeting that the Government intended to solve the problems of the people of the Marri area and said: “we do not harbour ill-will against anybody. You are our brethren and we respect you very much. Neither [have we] ... any enmity against your Sardar. He is our friend and is dear to us.”

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from Teheran,] Chinese Foreign Minister Chi Peng-fei said here last night [June 14] that China endorsed the recent Pakistan-Iran joint communique, issued after a State visit by President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto here last month, which called on India to release Pakistani prisoners of war “without further delay, and urged Bangladesh to avoid trying war prisoners”.

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2023