HASSANABDAL: Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto will leave for Teheran on March 28 for a visit. … Soon afterwards Princess Ashraf Pahlavi will pay a goodwill visit to Pakistan. Talking to newsmen informally after laying the foundation-stone of the Fauji Cotton Mills here today [March 21], Mr Bhutto said that he would “positively” call a conference in the first week of April to consider the Baluchistan situation. He … made it clear that the conference would be “purely official”, thus setting aside the possibility of any party leaders, particularly of Baluchistan National Awami Party, participating. …

Mr Bhutto declined to say anything when his attention was drawn to Press reports suggesting that he was likely to visit China shortly. Asked about a possible Cabinet reshuffle, he said that it would come after the forthcoming session of the National Assembly. … Questioned about his relations with Mr Ghulam Mustafa Khar, he said they remained as cordial as before. … He said he was fed up with catchwords like “leftist, rightist, centrist.” He took pride in the fact that he was a Muslim first and last and also a Pakistani.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2024