THE SUN, BALTIMORE. JUNE 9, 1971
2 SENATORS ASK CUT-OFF IN AID TO PAKISTAN
By Adam Clymer
Washington Bureau of The Sun
Washington, June 8-A11 American aid to Pakistan should be halted until its government changes its policies enough so that refugees return to that country. Senators William B. Saxbe (R., Ohio) and Frank Church (D., Idaho) urged today.
They announced they would offer an amendment to the foreign aid bill next week to bar any military or economic aid to Pakistan until a majority of the estimated 5,000,000 refugees now in India are repatriated and international relief efforts are begun.
Senator Church contended the amendment was necessary to eliminate American support of one side-the government-in a “civil war.” He said it was “neutral” and not an effort to interfere in Pakistan’s internal affairs. Bui under questioning he conceded the amendment sought to force a change in Pakistan government policies toward East Pakistan citizens-a change broad enough so that the refugees would feel safe in returning home.
U.S. To Provide $15 Million
Meanwhile, Charles Bray, a State Department spokesman, announced that the United States was providing another $15 million in aid to India to cope with the Pakistani refugees. This is in addition to $25 million announced earlier.
Of the allotment, $10 million will go for food, and the remainder for medical supplies and other needs, Francis L, Kellogg, special assistant to the secretary of state for refugees affairs, announced.
Mr. Kellogg said that refugees are continuing to cross the border at a rate of 50,000 to 100,000 a day, and the U.S. is committed to feeding 1,250,000 of them, he said the Indian government’s current estimate of the number of refugees was 4.7 million.
He said the latest report of U.S. would send 1,000,000 anticholera shots in later this week.
Military Mission Arrives In New Delhi, a 27-man U.S. military mission arrived in an Air Force C-130 transport. They will check out airfields in Tripura, to the east of East Pakistan, to see whether an airlift mission can be mounted to move refugees (now totaling 500,000 compared to the state’s basic population of 1.5 million) into less crowded Indian areas. Three other C-130’s will be sent if it proves feasible, they said.
The two senators will propose their amendment when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee takes up the foreign aid bill next week. The committee earlier approved a resolution-not yet acted upon by the Senate—which would bar further military aid to Pakistan. The South Asian country is basically armed with U.S. equipment, but only spare parts and ammunition have been sent to it since the 1965 Indo-Pakistani war.
Senator Church estimated that the current pending economic aid would total about $80 million. He said he did not know how much military aid was in prospect. Sales of planes and armored personnel carriers authorized last October have not yet been completed.
Both senators complained that American aid to the government of Pakistan put it in opposition to the Bengalis of East Pakistan. Senator Saxbe complained that the Army had “crushed” Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his moderate, generally proWestern Awami League, who had recently won national elections.”
Senator Saxbe also put forward Dr. Jon E. Rohde, a physician who was in East Pakistan ‘with the Agency for International Development. Dr. Rohde contended that relief had to be international because the Pakistan Army had shown during December’s cyclone and flood that it was incapable of handling relief operations.
He said American aid-which the State Department has said has been held up since the civil war began-meant “the U.S. is currently supporting one side.” He added that “it is documented that mass slaughter has gone on.”