RAWALPINDI: Relations between Pakistan and India had been improving and the tempo of improvement was not slow if viewed in the historical perspective, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto[said] … at a recent Press conference [here]. … Mr Bhutto … said that his country was prepared to improve its relations with New Delhi in all other fields but it would not compromise its position on the right of self-determination of the people of Kashmir. He said Pakistan had taken several measures deliberately and conscientiously to promote … peace. But … if India thinks that peace can only come by the total security of India and total insecurity of Pakistan this is not our interpretation of achieving peace.

[Meanwhile, as reported from Larkana,] every justice would be done to the Baluch tri­besmen who had come down the mountains and ended their rebellion against Pakistan [PM Bhutto] said at Nau Dero … yesterday [Dec 25]. The [PM] was talking to a group of seven Marri Baluch tribesmen who met him at an open kutchery … after offering Eid-ul-Azha prayers. The [PM] told the tribesmen that now wind had gone out of the sails of those who had instigated them to indulge in rebellion.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2024