বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড
saying there is no widespread famine. Stocks presently 700,000 tons, or 4 months supply at normal rates. Additionally, 200,000 tons on the water, much of that in East Pakistan ports. Further, 300,000 tons of U. S. grain has been authorized and will move as soon as delivery can be made. If future needs prove to be greater than this, we would, of course, consider additional PL-480 shipments. And we are in a position to move promptly if it proves necessary.
Now, the Department of Agriculture yesterday said we were advising the Government of Pakistan that we are anxious to resume shipments at the earliest possible time that port congestion in East Pakistan is eased and off-loading and distribution arranged. All this by way of saying that the problem is not supply, but off-loading facilities and distribution in East Pakistan, because rail, boat and road transport have been disrupted, and labor at the docks is largely unavailable.
Now, we have stressed to the Government of Pakistan the importance of resolving distribution problems, and we have also continued to emphasize we are prepared to support any international humanitarian efforts to provide assistance to East Pakistan." April 15:
"We have been struck by the fact that some reporting on Pakistan continues to assert that U. S. arms are flowing into Pakistan, and that U. S. food assistance is being cut off. These assertions are not true.
First, there is no widespread famine in East Pakistan, based on the best information available to us, although local shortage may exist. The problem is not supply, it is distribution and port congestion. We have taken up with the Government of Pakistan a number of times the urgent need to resolve these problems. 900,000 tons of grain, including large quantities of U. S. PL-480 wheat are either in government stocks in East Pakistan or at its ports or on the high seas. 300,000 additional tons of U. S. grain have been authorized and will move as soon as deliveries can be made, and the United States will act promptly if more is needed. We have said, and repeated our willingness to support any additional international humanitarian relief effort, and the Government of Pakistan is fully aware of our readiness to do so.
On the question of U. S. arms, the embargo has been in effect since 1965. With regard to the one-time exception announced last October, no arms have been delivered and none are in the pipeline. Since 1966-67, under the foreign military sales agreement with Pakistan, a very modest quantity of such items as communications, medical and transport equipment as well as spare parts and ammunition for arms provided prior to the 1965 embargo, have gone to Pakistan. With respect to the question of ammunition, no more than 10 or 15 per cent of the total material has been ammunition We have been informed by the Department of Defense that none of these items have been provided to the Pakistan Government of its agents since the outbreak of fighting in East Pakistan, March 25–26, and nothing is now scheduled for such delivery. In short, no arms have been provided to the Government of Pakistan since the beginning of this crisis, and the question of deliveries will be kept under review in light of developments."
