UNITED NATIONS: China today [Aug 25] vetoed the application of Bangladesh to join the United Nations. It was the first veto cast by Peking, and came after 10 months to the day since it joined the United Nations. Earlier, the Security Council rejected a proposal by China to postpone the consideration of Bangladesh’s application.

China wanted the consideration of the application to be postponed pending full implementation of the resolution adopted by the UN last December following the fighting between India and Pakistan... . China, the Sudan and Guinea were the only members of the 15-nation Security Council to vote for the postponement resolution. The Soviet Union, India and Yugoslavia voted against it... . — News Agencies

[Meanwhile, as reported by the newspaper’s special representative in Islamabad], The Natio­nal Assembly today [Aug 25] was made to face an ugly situation which brought cracks in the ruling party to the surface, and forced the Law Minister, Mian Mahmud Ali Kusuri, to withdraw a motion seeking leave of the House to introduce a Cons­titution Bill. After nearly an hour-long pandemonium, the day’s session ended with a pathetic appeal by the Speaker ... to the members to maintain the decorum of the House... .

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2022