Huq Chodhury back from Kabu Teheran mission
NEW DELHI, July, 1.- Afghanistan has a “complete understanding” of the situation in Bangladesh and the implication it has for India, according to Mr. Moinul Huq Chowdhury returned to Delhi this morning after a week’s visit to Kabul and later to Teheran where he had meeting with King Zahir Shah of Afghanistan and the Shahansha of Iran in addition to meetings with the Foreign Minister and Foreign Office officials.
To both the heads of State, Mr. Choudhury delivered personal letters from the Prime Minister, as whose personal envoy he went there.
Mr. Choudhury got a warm welcome in Afghanistan, whose main access to the seas is through Pakistan.
In contrast on the eve of his arrival in Teheran, inspired reports had appeared in local newspapers that he was seeking the Shah’s intervention to settle Bangladesh issue. The reports forecast a meeting between the Prime Minister and President Yahya Khan of Pakistan in quest of a solution.
During his two-hour long meeting with the Shah, Mr. Choudhury explained the Indian stand on Bangladesh. it was during his stay in Teheran that President Yahya Khan announced his decision to foist his own constitution on Pakistan.
The Yahya Khan scheme of political set-up. Mr. Choudhury explained, would not be acceptable to the people of Bangladesh as it was aimed at climinating the elected representatives of the people.
Mr. Choudhury had also meetings with the President of the Iranian Senate and Speaker of the Lower House of its Parliament and other Iranian dignitaries and his impression was that after Yahya Khan’s broadcast, Iranians had “written off” Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, the Bulgarian Prime Minister, Mr. Todor Zhivkov, told Dr. Karan Singh, Minister for Tourisin and Civil Aviation during their talks on Tuesday that the Bangladesh situation “is no longer Pakistan’s internal affairs but an international problem and can be tackled only through political solution with international efforts.”
Reference: Hindustan Standard 2.7.1971