side of the border, we honestly don’t see what purpose can be served, and the harm that is done is that the peoples’ attention of the world is diverted from the real basic issues involved to merely requests-and they try to show it is an Indo-Pak dispute, which is isn’t. The dispute is between the military regime of West Pakistan and the people and elected representatives of East Bengal. India comes in because of the influx of the refugees, the acts of sabotage which are taking place on our side by people who have come in either disguised as refugees or in some other way, and as I said, we believe there is real danger to us.
Mr. Harrison: Madam Prime Minister, last April, in our interview in New Delhi you made the statement that the demand for in dependence currently being made by the East Pakistan government would not have arisen if President Yahya Khan of Pakistan had made more concessions in the negotiations before the fighting started there, and you seem to have the idea that some sort of a loose connection between the two wings of Pakistan might still be possible and some political settlement based on autonomy for East Bengal might be possible.
Do you feel that now a political settlement is still possible or is full independence achieved through guerrilla war the only answer?
Prime Minister: Anything is possible which is accepted by the people of East Bengal. I don’t think we have a right to say that they should accept something or not. It is their country, it is their movement, and they must take the final decision.
Mr. Harrison: How long do you think it would take them to win their independence militarily if the United States were not to give further military or economic aid to West Pakistan?
Prime Minister: I don’t think it is possible to give a date, but from the news we get, the guerrilla activities are being stepped up, and not at all near our borders, but in the heart of the most fortified, the most strongly guarded of the cities of East Bengal, such as the capital city of Dacca, for instance.
Mr. Jhabvala: Madam Prime Minister, there is a lingering suspicion in this country and elsewhere that India is engaged in a diabolical scheme to weaken and ultimately decimate Pakistan. Now, apart from the assistance and the shelter that has been given to the refugees, can you cite some specific gestures or actions taken by your government to dispel that suspicion?
Prime Minister: Now, this is something which the Government of Pakistan has been saying from the very beginning, all these 24 years. But what has been the actual experience? It is that it was Pakistan who was training our tribal people whether the Mizos or the Nagas, arming them. It is Pakistan who sent thousands of infiltrators into Kashmir which provoked the conflict in that year. And you have only to see the speeches now made on radio and other means which are very threatening and provocative. India has made no such declaration, and I can assure you that the Government of India, and I would say the majority of the people of India, have no such desire. We are not against Pakistan and we have only the friendliest of feelings for the people of Pakistan. And we
