The External Affairs Minister, Mr. Swaran Singh, to-day [New Delhi, July 21] warned Pakistan against any attack on India on some pretext and said, “we are also not alone.” He was replying to a call attention notice in the Rayja Sabha on President Yahya Khan’s threat on Monday that Pakistan would go to war if India seized “any part of East Pakistan.” Mr. Swaran Singh described the statement of the Pakistan President as “unwarranted and baseless.” Either President Yahya Khan was trying to mislead his people and the world at large or preparing them for an aggression against India by making such a statement, he said. Mr. Swaran Singh advised restraint on the part of members when Mr. N.G. Goray (P.S.P.), who tabled the notice along with others, urged the Government to take possession of some areas in East Bengal to rehabilitate the refugees. He appealed to the members not to say anything which might be quoted against India in international forums. India, he said, had no desire to seize any part of Pakistan. While taking note of the fact that Gen. Yahya Khan’s threat had come in the wake of the announcement of the Sino-U.S. summit meeting, the External Affairs Minister repeated that India was ready to defend itself if Pakistan used the successes of freedom fighters in liberating territory in Bangla Desh as a pretext for attacking India.
