WASHINGTON: President Gerald Ford reaffirmed here today [Feb 5] “continuing American support for the integrity and independence of Pakistan” and told Prime Minister Bhutto that the question of removing the embargo on the sale of arms to Pakistan will receive “active consideration”. White House spokesman Ron Nessen told newsmen after the one-hour-ten-minute meeting between President Ford and Prime Minister Bhutto that the Pakistani leader was also informed by the President that the [US] will be as helpful as possible in providing quantities of food grains beyond the 100,000 tons already made available. …

The … spokesman said President Ford expressed his great pleasure at this first opportunity to get to know Mr Bhutto... . … Mr Nessen said that the President had assured the Prime Minister that the economic needs of Pakistan will continue to receive priority attention. The Prime Minister discussed the steps that were being taken for the normalisation of relations among the nations of South Asia. The President expressed strong admiration for Prime Minister Bhutto’s contribution to that historic process.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2025