PINDI MAY BARTER’ BANGLA FOR KASHMIR
THE INDIAN EXPRESS (New Delhi), October 8, 1971PTI - Report From New Delhi
A senior Pakistan diplomat, who has defected to Bangladesh, says the West Pakistani rulers are reconciled to the eventual loss of Bangla Desh but would try to grab Kashmir to placate public opinion in their country. Mr. Humayun Rashid Choudhury, till recently Minister Counsellor and Head of Chancery at the Pakistan High Commission here, also says that West Pakistanis have been whipped up into a\hysteria that India was now to grab their territory and are therefore willing to fight India. Mr. Choudhury was interviewed tonight along with Mr. K. Subrahmanyam, Director of the Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis, on the All India Radio television by Dr. Mohammed Ayub of the Nehru University.
Supplementing Mr. Choudhury, Mr. Subrahmanyam said West Pakistan would attack Rajasthan simultaneously with Kashmir and try to adopt a defensive posture on the Punjab plains. Mr. Subrahmanyam said that India has a numerical superiority over Pakistan both in the Army and in the Air Force. The West Pakistani army had some 3,65,000 men where¬as the Indian Army had 8,00 000 men. 'The former’s Air Force- had 280 aircraft as against Indian Air Force’s 600. Mr. Subrahmanyam added that the outcome of a war would, however, depend on the deployment. India had also to watch the northern border with China.
Mr. Choudhury made several visits to West Pakistan between March this year and his defection earlier this week. There he met several friends and relatives recently back from Bangladesh. Giving his appreciation of the relative morale in the two regions, he said: “The morale of Bangladesh people is tremendously high—admirable because of all that they have gone through. They are confident that theirs is the ultimate victory”.
On the other hand, the morale in West Pakistan is sagging very, very fast. They are convinced that they are going to lose Bangladesh. They are worried how to explain this to the people of West Pakistan who have sustained them, he said. “If at some stage, it becomes difficult to stay in Bangladesh,. they would not like to get trapped. They will pull out from there but they will go in for Kashmir. There has been for some years a lot of talk in West Pakistan about bartering Bangladesh for Kashmir”. Mr. Subrahmanyam, agreeing with Mr. Choudhury, noted that Pakistan has been trying to buy Russian and East European arms to equip “Mujahids” to be sent into Kashmir. He said the immediate objective of West Pak¬istan is to make a major military effort to stamp out the Mukti Bahini. They would shift troops to Bangladesh but they have to watch out on 'the West Pakistan border with India at the same time. He also observed that the present rulers of West Pakistan would rather lose to India than give in to democratic forces within the country.
A senior Pakistan diplomat, who has defected to Bangladesh, says the West Pakistani rulers are reconciled to the eventual loss of Bangla Desh but would try to grab Kashmir to placate public opinion in their country. Mr. Humayun Rashid Choudhury, till recently Minister Counsellor and Head of Chancery at the Pakistan High Commission here, also says that West Pakistanis have been whipped up into a\hysteria that India was now to grab their territory and are therefore willing to fight India. Mr. Choudhury was interviewed tonight along with Mr. K. Subrahmanyam, Director of the Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis, on the All India Radio television by Dr. Mohammed Ayub of the Nehru University.
Supplementing Mr. Choudhury, Mr. Subrahmanyam said West Pakistan would attack Rajasthan simultaneously with Kashmir and try to adopt a defensive posture on the Punjab plains. Mr. Subrahmanyam said that India has a numerical superiority over Pakistan both in the Army and in the Air Force. The West Pakistani army had some 3,65,000 men where¬as the Indian Army had 8,00 000 men. 'The former’s Air Force- had 280 aircraft as against Indian Air Force’s 600. Mr. Subrahmanyam added that the outcome of a war would, however, depend on the deployment. India had also to watch the northern border with China.
Mr. Choudhury made several visits to West Pakistan between March this year and his defection earlier this week. There he met several friends and relatives recently back from Bangladesh. Giving his appreciation of the relative morale in the two regions, he said: “The morale of Bangladesh people is tremendously high—admirable because of all that they have gone through. They are confident that theirs is the ultimate victory”.
On the other hand, the morale in West Pakistan is sagging very, very fast. They are convinced that they are going to lose Bangladesh. They are worried how to explain this to the people of West Pakistan who have sustained them, he said. “If at some stage, it becomes difficult to stay in Bangladesh,. they would not like to get trapped. They will pull out from there but they will go in for Kashmir. There has been for some years a lot of talk in West Pakistan about bartering Bangladesh for Kashmir”. Mr. Subrahmanyam, agreeing with Mr. Choudhury, noted that Pakistan has been trying to buy Russian and East European arms to equip “Mujahids” to be sent into Kashmir. He said the immediate objective of West Pak¬istan is to make a major military effort to stamp out the Mukti Bahini. They would shift troops to Bangladesh but they have to watch out on 'the West Pakistan border with India at the same time. He also observed that the present rulers of West Pakistan would rather lose to India than give in to democratic forces within the country.
Posts
0 Comments :
Post a Comment