RAWALPINDI: The External Affairs Minister, Mr Mohammad Ali, said here this evening that any future cultural, economic and political tie-up between the three neighbouring Muslim countries — Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan — would be “quite natural”.

The Minister was replying to a question by a correspondent who asked whether there was any concrete proposal for fusion of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran into a greater political entity.

Mr Mohammad Ali said that a cultural, economic and political tie-up “does not mean a merger, amalgamation or establishment of a confederation or federation.”

Mr Mohammad Ali said that a tie-up could take the shape of the Commonwealth, in which every member was free to pursue its own policy.

He said that the idea of forming a Commonwealth of Muslim countries was recently proposed by the Prime Minister of Malaya.

He himself (Mr Mohammad Ali) had spoken in favour of a Muslim Commonwealth as [far] back as in 1955 when he had talks with UAR President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

He said when there is affinity on cultural, religious, and ideological basis, it was quite natural that certain nations would like to have a close “tie-up”….—Agencies

No plan to meet Ayub

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Nehru today told Lok Sabha that at present there was no proposal of his meeting President Ayub Khan….

He admitted that there were some incidents in India in which the minorities were adversely affected and added that there was no use of hiding them. But in this connection he regretted a recent statement and said that it was wrong to suggest that the minorities in India were being ill-treated.—Delhi Correspondent