KARACHI: Shortly before midnight yesterday, Mr Z.A. Bhutto and Sardar Swaran Singh concluded their last round of talks. Coming out together from the conference room, they announced ... that a fourth round of the present series of talks would take place on March 9, 10, 11 and 12 in Calcutta. The venue, Sardar Swaran Singh said, had been settled because it would be more convenient to Mr Bhutto who would then be in Dacca for the National Assembly session.

Both the leaders parried a volley of questions ... and Sardar Swaran Singh would only say that “unless progress had been made” they would not have decided to continue the talks.

When a correspondent asked whether the progress could be called “substantial”, the leader of the Indian delegation said he did not like adjectives, but “you call it substantial if you want to”.

When Mr Bhutto was asked whether there had been a change in the Indian position since yesterday afternoon when he had not found it very optimistic ... the Pakistan Foreign Minister said that otherwise there would not have been a fourth round.

It is reliably learnt that in last night’s final meeting the Indian Minister agreed to convey to the Government that such proposals as the Indian side had made during the Karachi talks for the settlement of the Kashmir dispute were totally unacceptable to Pakistan. He is also believed to have promised to place before the Indian Prime Minister Pakistan’s terms for a political settlement as indicated during the third round of talks.—Staff Correspondent