§ Mr. Russell Johnstonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has about the effect of the present political crisis in Pakistan on the flow of British aid to the victims of the recent floods in East Pakistan; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WoodThe political crisis interrupted discussions on the use of our contribution of £2 million to the reconstruction programme. We had made an offer of various types of boats, navigational 97W aids, bridging equipment and pontoons. The £500,000 that we gave for food aid financed the shipment of 20,000 metric tons of Australian wheat in two ships to East Pakistan. One of the ships had reached Chittagong and started unloading by 17th March. We have no information about the arrival of the other ship.