There was no issue of the paper on Jan 17, 1973 due to the Eidul Azha holiday. The following is an excerpt from the previous day’s edition.

NEW DELHI: India should take account of possible dangers from Pakistan and China in planning her defence needs, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw said tonight [Jan 15]. The Field Marshal, who stepped down as Army Chief of Staff earlier in the day, said in a television interview he doubted whether expenditure on the 800,000-strong army could be reduced very much.

Asked whether he thought there was any external threat to the country, Field Marshal Manekshaw said: We have got Pakistan which has a sizable army, a very good army. They are training themselves well, training hard.

Since Pakistan knew India would not attack her, “there is danger from that quarter”, he said. India had a long border with China and incidents could occur which could “escalate into anything”. — New agencies

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from Key Biscayne, Florida,] President Nixon has ordered the suspension of all bombing and shelling of North Vietnam and mining of its coast, the White House announced today [Jan 15].

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2023