HC Deb 14 February 1972 vol 831 cc27-30
32. Mr. Wilkinson

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will now resume commodity aid to Pakistan.

34. Mr. Barnes

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will now make a statement on the Government's aid proposals for Bangladesh.

38. Mr. Goodhart

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aid he now proposes to give to Pakistan and Bangladesh in 1972.

Mr. Wood

The Government intend to offer immediate assistance to the Government of Bangladesh by providing a loan to finance all the outstanding contracts which have been placed with British firms by Bangladesh importers under previous aid loans and a further loan to take the place of the British loan money allocated to East Pakistan and not yet committed to contracts. The two loans amount to £4,835,000. We are also disbursing our existing loans to Pakistan, and a balance of nearly £3 million is still available. We have not yet taken decisions about new assistance for Pakistan.

We are already providing £3 million for relief in Bangladesh, and we have now pledged a contribution for 1972 of £700,000 to U.N.I.C.E.F. One hundred thousand pounds of this is destined for U.N.I.C.E.F. operations in Bangladesh.

Mr. Wilkinson

I thank my right hon. Friend for that full and informative answer. Does he agree that the resumption of commodity aid on a substantial scale to West Pakistan would do more at the present time to improve relations between the United Kingdom and Pakistan than any other measure, as Pakistan's reserves of foreign currency dwindled seriously during the crisis of the past year?

Mr. Wood

As the House knows, my right hon. Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary attaches the greatest importance to the resumption of these relations. We shall certainly consider the resumption of aid, or the provision of new aid, for Pakistan once the Pakistan Government have decided how to reorganise their economy and to deal with their debt moratorium which is, I think, the urgent matter in this case.

Mr. Goodhart

Following the recent conflict, the economic situation in Bangladesh is even worse than it is in Pakistan. Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that many people in this country would think it right if virtually all the economic aid which has been earmarked in the past for Pakistan now went to Bangladesh?

Mr. Wood

It was with that kind of consideration in view that I asked one of my officials to go out to Bangladesh—I hope that he is arriving today—and to report to me on what he thinks the urgent needs are.

Mr. Maclennan

Apart from that advice and assistance and, in particular, the loan aid to which the Minister referred, there is the problem of disrupted communications, especially the breakdown of bridges, to which my right hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Stechford (Mr. Roy Jenkins) has drawn attention. Have the Government any plans to give practical assistance, by the use of the military, for example, or in any other way, in this connection?

Mr. Wood

I understand from a number of people who have recently been to Bangladesh—in particular, the right hon. Member for Stechford—that the greatest need is to restore communications. It was with this in mind that we sent out Mr. Cross, an expert in bridge construction and reconstruction, who is there at the present time. We are looking also at plans in order to investigate the possibility of direct and speedy British help in the creation and recreation of communications which is so necessary now.

33. Mr. Pavitt

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will send an expert on cooperatives to Bangladesh to ascertain the aid necessary to restore the Co-operative Training Institute and field education for co-operative officials and non-officials, to examine the co-operative movement in general and to advise on supporting action.

Mr. Wood

I have offered technical assistance to the Government of Bangladesh, but I have had no request yet for the services of an expert on co-operatives. If I receive such a request I shall do my best to meet it.

Mr. Pavitt

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that the most likely way in which Bangladesh will be able to get on its own feet is by the people themselves, through their own mutual institutions such as co-operatives, being able to reconstitute their agricultural and agrarian systems? As the right hon. Gentleman's adviser is over there to look at the situation, might it not be possible to increase the amount of support in this field so as to help the people of Bangladesh quickly to get their credit, marketing and purchasing facilities back to what they were before the crisis?

Mr. Wood

Not only shall I be looking at that matter from here; the official to whom I referred in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Beckenham (Mr. Goodhart) is examining the whole questnon of what technical assistance is necessary in Bangladesh, and obviously this will be one of the matters which he will discuss if the desire exists in Bangladesh for such a person to go out.

Mrs. Hart

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for what he said on the general question of resumption of aid to Pakistan and Bangladesh which we warmly welcome. As his official will be reporting to him, presumably, on his return next week, on this and related questions, including the matter raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Caithness and Sutherland (Mr. Maclennan), namely, the urgent need for transportation relief measures, will the right hon. Gentleman undertake to make a fairly full statement when his official has reported to him so that we may know precisely what the relief position is likely to be?

Mr. Wood

I shall do my best to find an opportunity to do what the right hon. Lady asks.

Mr. Tilney

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind the immense need for books in Bangladesh since, so often, the occupants of homes where books were found were murdered?

Mr. Wood

There is a need for almost anything, books and everything else. I shall do my best to meet the many needs that there are, though I fear that there will be far more needs than we can possibly meet.

Mr. Molloy

What the right hon. Gentleman said in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Willesden, West (Mr. Pavitt) is most encouraging, and we are grateful for it. In the light of the great interest in this matter, which I am sure the right hon. Gentleman acknowledges, will he put that problem high on the agenda in his inquiries regarding how we can help Bangladesh?

Mr. Wood

I note what the hon. Gentleman says.

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