UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan told the Gen­eral Assembly’s Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) yesterday [Nov 30] that it could not accept the repatriation from Bangladesh of every non-Bengali. Speaking in exercise of his right of reply, Pakistan’s delegate Hasan Mahmud said his Government had agreed to receive certain categories of persons from Bangladesh, such as hardship cases. Pakistan would be willing to receive some more of those hardship cases, he said. But it would be too much to expect Pakistan to accept the repatriation from Bangladesh of every domiciled non-Bengali. Mr. Mahmud … raised the question of 400,000 “Pakistanis” in Bangladesh who he said “were waiting to be repatriated to Pakistan.” [Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from Beirut,] Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister, Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani … predicted that the Arab nations would have full ownership of their oil industries by the end of the year. Average Arab State participation in oil industries is at present 60 per cent. … Sheikh Yamani said the Arabs possessed half of the world’s oil “and it is their right to control the oil industry”.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2024