The tentative date for signing the treaty has been fixed as March 2, it was learnt.

Mr Bhutto, who arrived here this morning from Karachi at the head of a five-man delegation en route to Mainland China for a week’s stay, told newsmen in an airport interview that signing of the treaty between China and Pakistan should not at all jeopardize the Indo-Pakistan talks on Kashmir due to go into the fourth round in Calcutta on March 12.

The two things, he said, were not wholly connected. Even the terms of the agreement stipulated that if a sovereign authority other than Pakistan later took control of the area bordering China, it could re-open the negotiations.

Asked if the border treaty would have any effect on the South-East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) of which Pakistan is a member, Mr Bhutto said it had no bearing on SEATO. After all Pakistan had a border with China and it had to be defined, he said.—Agencies

Cotton exports up

LAHORE: Cotton receipts during the current year had shown considerable improvement and had almost doubled those of last year. This was disclosed here today (Feb 25) by the Central Commerce Minister, Mr Wahiduzzaman.

Talking to newsmen at Lahore Airport, the Minister said the export receipts from cotton this year had already reached Rs23 crores and were expected to amount to Rs30 crores. It stood at Rs13 crores only during last year. —Correspondent