RAWALPINDI: Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto said today [March 22] that Pakistan bears no ill-will to any of its neighbours, and would be happy to co-operate with them in establishing a modus vivendi… . In a message to the nation on … Pakistan Day, Prime Mi­­nister Bhutto said … relations with some of the neighbours … still gave cause for anxiety.

“We are assailed with doubts” … whether these neighbours were prepared for co-existence with Pakistan on the basis of non-interference, respect for international agreements and renunciation of the use of force and attempts at subversion. The Prime Minister said the pockets of subversion which posed a great threat to the nation’s integrity were being … narrowed down and would soon disappear. He called upon the people to resolve on this day that in the next 12 months they would not rest on their laurels but would so conduct themselves that those who had adopted the Lahore Resolution on March 23, 1940 would have cause to believe that their vision was fulfilled. We are celebrating Pakistan Day … in … hope and confidence nourished by the nation’s achievements since the last observance [Mr Bhutto said].

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2024