পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড).pdf/৫৩

ংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খন্ড be deep differences upon the means by which that objective could be achieved. The only sensible objective is the re-creation of peace and stability in that country. We have made our interest perfectly clear to the Government of Pakistan, and that Government have made perfectly clear to us that they are wholly committed to this objective. But for Her Majesty's Government, and for other Governments outside Pakistan, there seem to be three separate problems. The first is that of relieving distress and possible food shortage within East Pakistan; the second, as the Hon. Member mentioned, is the problem of relieving suffering among the refugees who have crossed from East Pakistan into India end the third problem is one of long-term development aid. In his statement here on 11th April, my Right Hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary repeated the readiness of Her Majesty's Government to play a part in any international relief effort, and he said on 11th May, after consultation with the American Secretary of State, that in our view this could best be organized through the United Nations. Therefore, a message was sent to U Thant suggesting that he should renew his offer of international assistance, U Thant is in touch with the Pakistan Government about the problems of relief with a view to their allowing a team of experts to make an objective appraisal of what is needed and accepting any assistance needed, on an international basis. The second question to which the Hon. Member devoted much of his speech is that of the very considerable number of refugees now in India. I am aware of the deep concern of the Indian Government about this matter, and I can express this Government's deep concern that the situation should be dealt with. The Indian High Commissioner discussed the situation with me only two days ago, and again the problem is to be quite sure about the actual needs that we must try internationally to resolve. As the first step, as my Hon. Friend has told the House, we made an immediate contribution by offering assistance to certain British charities to enable them to fly out relief supplies on 6th May. We are very glad that the charitable organizations have taken these steps, and I hope that that will continue. I understand that representatives of the charities-perhaps the Right Hon. Member for Wednesbury (Mr. Stonehouse) and other Hon. Members may be able to comment upon this-are now in India appraising the situation. I also understand that the Indian Government have approached the United Nations for assistance, and that a team from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees is also now in India. We shall await its report also with great interest. An international relief effort is clearly required. In our view, it must be handled by the United Nations in co-operation with the Indian Government. The third problem I mentioned was the separate problem of the difficulties facing the economy of Pakistan and the aid which may be required to meet them. This is a matter which we are discussing with the World Bank and the other members of the Pakistan Aid Consortium to try to establish the conditions under which such aid might be more effectively provided. I also discussed this recently with Mr. McNamara of the World Bank. It is clear to me that the other donors share all our anxieties and agree with us that the donor countries and