Asian Fears Over Kashmir Grow

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30839, 26 August 1965, Page 13

Asian Fears Over Kashmir Grow

'S Z P A -Reuter—Copyright ’ KARACHI, August 25. President Ayub Khan, of Pakistan, has received an urgent message from the Russian Prime Minister Mr Kosygin, which diplomatic quarters suggest may contain a mediation offer on Kashmir. Newspaper reports from Rawalpindi said the message was handed over there by the Russian Charge d'Affaires, Mr Zinoviev. Its contents were not disclosed.

Mr Zinoviev met the President today in Rawalpindi shortly before the Cabinet met to discuss “important subjects.’’ Diplomatic circles in Karachi were also quoted as saying a similar message may have been sent to the Indian Prime Minister, Mr Shastri. The Karachi evening newspaper, the “Daily News." said that some Afro-Asian nations were greatly concerned over the deteriorating situation in Kashmir, and it was obvious that Russia could take over the job of mediation. Ever since the Kashmir situation began to worsen three weeks ago, neither Britain nor the United States had made any serious effort to bring about a peaceful solution, the newspaper said.

i In New Delhi yesterday, the I Indian Prime Minister, Mr Shastri, said that the Kashmir ; conflict might last a long time. 1 He warned: “We will have J to be prepared to go very far 1 in this matter,” and accused Pakistan of veiled aggression in the fighting that has blazed I up in Kashmir over the last | two weeks. I India claims that raiders from Pakistan are responsible ■ for the violence. Pakistan denies this and calls it an | uprising by Kashmir “freedom ' fighters ” INFILTRATORS i Mr Shastri told the Upper House: “1 think we must prevent the infiltrators from coming into our territory.” He said it was for this purpose that Indian forces occupied two Pakistan posts in the Kargit area. Mr Shastri was speaking in a debate on the agreement that ended another recent Indian-Pakistani conflict in the Rann of Kutch. He said that the Kutch problem was quite separate from Kashmir. The House approved the agreement by a voice vote. RETURN In a statement in New i York. U Thant said he had I asked General Robert Nimmo, I of Australia, the United

Nations chief military observer in Kashmir, to leave Srinagar for New York immediately for consultations. The Secretary-General said he had abandoned plans to send a personal representative to Kashmir because of conditions set by India and Pakistan. He said that General Nimmo was expected to arrive before the end of the week and that he would give consideration to other efforts he might make in the light of his discussions with the general The United Nations spokesman who read U Thant's statement would not comment on the Secretary-General’s reference to the conditions set by Pakistan and India. RUSSIAN COMMENT

In Russia’s first comment on the Kashmir flare-up, the Communist Party newspaper “Pravda” appealed to India and Pakistan to show wisdom and patience in settling the conflict. Diplomatic sources in Moscow were sceptical of the reports from Karachi that Russia may be planning a mediation bid in the Kashmir conflict.

There was no official Soviet comment on the reports, however.