In October, 1970, the Administration agreed, as an “exception,” to self Pakistan an undisclosed number of F-104 fighter planes, B-57 bombers and armoured personnel carriers. However, the State Department said today that none of this “exception” equipment had been delivered.
But authoritative sources here, who cannot be identified, said that the flow of military equipment to Pakistan from Air Force sales alone had reached $47,944,781 between 1967 and April 30, 1970.
A communication sent on May 28 to the defense procurement division of the Pakistani Embassy by the headquarters of the Air Force accounting and finance centre in Denver enclosed a “status report listing all your open foreign military sales cases, showing case value, amounts collected, delivered and undelivered.”
The letter-signed by Elaine B. Loventhal. chief foreign military sales branch comptroller at the Denver headquarters-was headed: USAF statement of military sales transactions and detail delivery listings.”
The “status report” noted that previous charges on Pakistani military purchases were $25,679,654. 10, that undelivered items totaled $21,730,740.07 and that “cash received to date” was S24,342,782.37.
State Department officials were unable to say precisely what period this report covered.
The Air Force report said, however, that the Pakistani Government had to remit “on or before 31 May, 1971” the sum of $3,376,253.51 for further “total cash requirements.”
A notation on the report showed that a check from Pakistan for $404,116.49 had been received “in May, 1971.”
Authoritative sources here said that “in all likelihood” additional sales to Pakistan might have been made by the Army and the Navy.
Spokesmen for the East-West Shipping Agency, the New York agents for the Padma and the Sunderbans, indicated that the Padma had carried military equipment to Pakistan on a number of recent voyages, most recently delivering it in Karachi on March 22, three days before the troop action in East Pakistan.
The voyage for which the Padma is now preparing is her first to Karachi carrying military equipment since the ban was imposed after March 25. The current trip by the Sunderbans is also her first with such equipment since the ban. But authoritative sources said that other ships with military equipment for Pakistan might have sailed since March 25 from East and West Coast ports.
Bill of Lading
Forwarding agent-shipper's references: Ref. Exp: 63942MVF Inter-Maritime Forwarding Co., Inc.. 30 Church St., N.Y.
Shipper: Embassy of Pakistan (Defense Procurement Div.), Washington, D.C.
