BORDER QUIETER

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30736, 28 April 1965, Page 17

BORDER QUIETER

(N Z.P.A.- Reuter—Copyright)

RAWALPINDI (Pakistan), April 27. Tension over the fighting between Indian and Pakistani troops in the disputed Rann of Kutch border area eased today.

The easing in tension followed a statement by President Mohammed Ayub Khan, of Pakistan, that neither country could afford war.

The President told a civic reception last night in Dacca, East Pakistan, that it was fantastic to think Pakistan would go to war over an area where even .drinking water was not available.

A Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman had earlier expressed hopes that the two countries could settle the dispute peacefully without going to the United Nations. At the same time Pakistan complained of alleged violations of her air space and flights over the Rann of Kutch

by the Indian Air Force. A Foreign Office spokesman in Karachi threatened counter measures if the Indian Air Force tried to support ground forces in the disputed territory.

The Indian Prime Minister, Mr Lal Bahadur Shastri, has also proclaimed India’s desire for peace. But in a speech in New Delhi last night he said India would deal with the situation in the Rann of Kutch “firmly and effectively.”

Pakistan had started attacking Indian positions and India could not consider any proposal for withdrawal of forces on both sides. Pakistan lost six tanks and suffered “heavy casualties” in fighting at Biar Bet in the Rann of Kutch, an Indian Defence Ministry spokesman said today.