IZMIR: Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto set the record straight today [April 24] by making it clear that it was he who had taken the recent initiative to normalise relations with India but cautioned that any deterioration in Indo-Bangladesh relations could affect the process.

“It will not sound very congruous that while on the one hand we are talking to India to normalise our relations and exchange diplomats, on the other hand firing is taking place between India and Bangladesh,” the Prime Minister told a Press conference shortly before his departure from Izmir after attending the RCD summit here. … …[H]e hoped ... that these [border clashes] would not continue.

[Meanwhile, as reported by the staff correspondent from Quetta,] the Baluchistan Land Commission has instituted proceedings against 22 defaulters, mostly former Sardars, for violating the Land Reforms regulations. An official spokesman said … that the cases of four of them are being finalised. They are: Mr Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Mr Abdul Qadir Mengal, Mr Mohammad Zaman Khan Mohammad Shahi and Mr Qutab Khan Satakzai. A list of other defaulters was also released today [April 24].

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2026