LONDON: Mr Liaquat Ali Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, said here that the … Government would spend about £56 million on her defence requirements in the next financial year and his “Government would never neglect the defences of the Dominion”. Mr Liaquat Ali Khan, who was speaking in Urdu at a reception here last night [April 29] to about 150 members of Pakistan’s armed forces now being trained in Britain, said the trainees must always “regard themselves as ambassadors of Pakistan in the United Kingdom”. He said: “You must always conduct yourselves here in a manner worthy of the great fighting traditions, discipline and history of the armed forces of Pakistan.

“The Pakistan Government pledged not to neglect the defence of the country because we have our freedom after great sacrifices. This freedom we must and will preserve… .” … Pakistan’s defence estimate of £5,57,62,500 for the next year includes a large sum for the requisition of defence stores and installations left in Pakistan by the British Government on the partition of the sub-continent into the Dominions of India and Pakistan on August 15, 1947.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2024