INDIAN PLAN FOR MIDDLE EAST

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28157, 21 December 1956, Page 13

INDIAN PLAN FOR MIDDLE EAST

Demilitarisation Proposed W-Z. Press Association— Copyright) (Rec. 10 p.m.) NEW DELHI, December 20. The Prime Minister of India (Mr Nehru) is reported today to have proposed to Sir Anthony Eden and President Eisenhower a plan for the demilitarisation of the entire Middle East. It is believed that Mr Nehru proposed the calling of a toplevel international conference to discuss the demilitarisation plan when he met Sir Anthony Eden in London before flying to America for his talks with President Eisenhower. Mr Nehru is said to have suggested that if the idea was acceptable, he would then urge Russia to stop supplying arms to Middle East countries. Pakistan today opposed the reported plan. It said: “This move on the part of Mr Nehru is fraught with danger and, if accepted, even as a plausibly workable formula, it will have serious repercussions among members of the Bagdad Pact and will have dangerous consequences for the entire Middle East region.”

A statement issued by the Pakistan High Commission said: “Karachi political circles are of the opinion that such a strange suggestion could be expected from the Indian Prime Minister in view of his pronounced hostility towards the Bagdad Pact. They point out that Mr Nehru has been very hostile towards the Bagdad Pact from the very beginning and after the Anglo-French intervention in Egypt, a concerted attack from Moscow. Cairo Damascus, and New Delhi was launched against the Bagdad Pact. ‘‘lf this suggestion is accepted, Mr Nehru will achieve his most desired object of neutralising the Bagdad Pact because under this arrangement, some of the Muslim member countries of the pact (including Pakistan) would not be considered eligible to receive arms from Western countries.” The statement said: “This strangulation of the Bagdad Pact would remove the main hurdle from the path of Mr Nehru and the expansion of his sphere of influence in that area, where a vacuum of power would be created by the so-called demilitarisation plan. ‘‘lt is significant that although India sits on the fringe of the Middle East region, she will not be affected by this demilitarisation plan and will continue to support the biggest army, next to China, in the entire AfricanAsian area. “It is pointed out that India's invitation to the Russian Defence Minister (Marshal Zhukov) for a visit to New Delhi on the occasion of India’s Republic Day celebration in January was renewed at this junction when the plan for demilitarisation was completely worked out,” the Pakistan statement said. “It is also pointed out that although from the very beginning, India has been harbouring the idea of extending her sphere of influence in the Middle East, it received considerable importance after Mr Nehru met the Chinese Prime Minister (Mr Chou Enlai).” Two Convicts Recaptured (Rec. 10 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 20. A two-day hunt for a murderer and a burglar who escaped from Dartmoor Prison on Monday ended outside a store filled with Christmas shoppers in the small Somerset town of Bridgwater today. Frank Bond, a 29-year-old convict serving a life sentence for murder, and 28-year-old Douglas Jackson, were outside the gaily-decorated shops when a police car loomed out of the fog and drew up alongside the kerb. Two detectives got out and tapped the fugitives on the shoulder. There was no struggle, no fuss. Silently the two men surrendered and went back into custody after 48 hours of freedom. A tip from a civilian finally put the police on to the trail of Bond and Jackson, who had broken through the immediate cordon of 500 troops and police around the bleak moorlands.