পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড).pdf/১০৬

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78 ংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খন্ড assessors to find out what is necessary, Apart from U Thant's approach, we have urged on the Pakistan Government the desirability of international action. One of the difficulties here, which I think the Right Hon. Member for Wednesbury will appreciate, arises in connection with tractors which, as the Right Hon. Gentleman is aware, were landed at Chittagong, and we accepted an undertaking from the Pakistan Government that they would be used for rehabilitation purposes in the cyclone-affected areas. If we are to get in relief and equipment that can bring relief, in advance of international organizations, we must accept the opinion and the undertaking of the Pakistan Government that they will be used as we would want them to be used, but it does not alter my wish, which I hope the House shares, that we can get this on an international basis, and that is the direction in which we are working. The Right Hon. Member for Fulham (Mr. M. Stewart), and others, suggested the possibility of some Commonwealth action. I think that my Right Hon. Friend the Member for Stafford and Stone (Mr. Hugh Fraser) mentioned the possibility of acting through CENTO. The position is that, apart from the observation which the Right Hon. Member for Leeds, East has offered, which I think occurs to many of us, about the difficulty that has arisen between India and Pakistan, we should be anxious to try to make progress through any organisation, whether it is the Commonwealth itself, CENTO, or the United Nations. We should obviously concentrate on the organisation that we thought would be most acceptable to the Pakistan' Government. The Right Hon. Gentleman inclined, as I do, towards the involvement of the United Nations, but my Right Hon. Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary would not disregard the suggestion-particularly coming from the Right Hon. Gentleman-lhat we should examine the possibility of acting in one of the other ways. The Right Hon. Member for Leeds. Hast referred to the question of arms supplies. My Right Hon. Friend has reviewed the question. The only significant arms transactions which have taken place since 1967 have been an agreement for the refitting of a naval vessel and a contract for radar equipment. There have been no major arms deals between the United Kingdom and Pakistan since 1967. My Right Hon. Friend is quite satisfied that he should not change the policy now, and I do not think that anything would be gained from our taking any initiative in the matter. The Hon. Member for Brantford and Chiswick (Mr. Barnes) asked about inquiries by the Pakistan High Commission into the activities of Pakistani citizens in this county. It is quite clear from what I have been told that no such information has been requested of the Foreign Office by the Pakistan High Commission. The debate has largely centered on the question of the ability of this country to resume the provision of aid to help to ensure that the economic life particularly of Hast Pakistan is effectively resumed. Apart from the welcome given to the provision of relief in East Pakistan and India, the suggestion has been welcomed know that some Hon. Members have expressed reservations-that as soon as possible we should resume our aid to East Pakistan in order to fill some of the obvious gaps that we were anxious to fill before. It has also been generally agreed that we cannot expect to resume that programme unless political stability can be recreated.