UNITED NATIONS, N. Y., Dec. 9—Pakistan informed the United Nations today that she had “decided to accept” the General Assembly's, call for cease‐fire on the Indian subcontinent and for a withdrawal of hostile troops to their own soil.

But the Pakistani chief delegate, informing Secretary General Thant of the decision, called on the United Nations to take “concrete and binding measures” to secure and maintain both a cease‐fire and a withdrawal and to send observers to the area.

[In New Delhi, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi rejected the General Assembly's call for a cease‐fire Friday and said that India would “take all steps” to achieve the independence of East Pakistan, the Associated Press reported.] Elaborating on the Pakistani message, a delegation spokesman said that a cease‐fire and a withdrawal “cannot be unilateral.” This confirmed a Government declaration in Rawalpindi that Pakistan would comply with the Assembly resolution only if India did the same.

No immediate reaction came from the Indian delegation members here. They have criticized the resolution and indicated that India would not obey it.

Nor was there comment from Mr. Thant. He received the Pakistani message, a letter addressed to him from the Pakistani delegate, Agha Shahi, at 4:30 P.M.
Continue reading the main story

But United Nations officials, stressing the Secretary General's fear of bloodshed among civilians, said that Mr. Thant had pressed a proposal that neutral enclaves, for East Pakistanis as well as for foreigners, be established in the area of Dacca, the capital of East Pakistan.

Other Developments

As the war on the subcontinent went into its fifth day, there were these other developments here:

¶The emissary to the United States of the Bengali secessionists said they welcomed signs that Washington was taking a less pro‐Pakistani position in the crisis. The envoy, Mustafizur Rahman Siddiqi, said that Bangla Desh, or Bengal Nation, as the independence movement is known, had stepped up its appeal for United States recognition this week, as Indian troops gained the upper hand in East Pakistan.

¶A spokesman for the British delegation, in a formal declaration, said there was still hope that the Security Council could take “constructive” action concerning the war.

¶A United Nations spokesman, William C. Powell, said that both Indian and Pakistani authorities had agreed to a dawn‐to‐dusk cease‐fire along the air route from Bangkok to Dacca tomorrow, to enable the United Nations to evacuate more than 300 foreigners from the East Pakistani capital.

¶A Pakistani delegation spokesman said that Zulfikar All Bhutto, the West Pakistani who is Pakistan's Deputy Premier, would arrive in New York at midday tomorrow from Frankfurt. He is to call on Mr. Thant and put Pakistan's case in public statements here.

¶A military communique issued here in Mr. Thant's name said that United Nations observers had reported “sporadic artillery, mortar and small‐arms fire along the whole cease‐fire line” [in Kashmir] by both Indian and Pakistani military forces.”

Shahi's Letter Publicized

The communique, covering the 24 hours preceding 11 A.M. Wednesday, West Pakistani time, said that the observers had unconfirmed information that Indian troops had crossed the line south of Uri and that Pakistani forces had crossed near Poonch. Both advances were said to have been made “in limited strength.”

A spokesman for the Pakistani delegation said it had received no reports on the fighting on the subcontinent today. But he made public the text of Mr. Shahi's letter to Mr. Thant. It included these passages:

“Under the instructions of my Government, I have the honor to state that even though the resolution fails to take note of the Indian aggression against Pakistan (which has been admitted by India), the Government of Pakistan has decided to accept the call for an immediate cease‐fire and the withdrawal of troops contained in that resolution.

“Inasmuch as the resolution provides for an immediate withdrawal of the troops of each party to its own side of the border and thus would stop bloodshed, Pakistan is willing to overlook its inadequacies at this time.

“It is the hope of the Government of Pakistan that, strengthened by a pronouncement unmistakeably supported by the overwhelming majority of its membership, the U.N. will decide upon concrete and binding measures to secure and maintain the cessation of hostilities with immediate effect, the withdrawal of all armed personnel and the stationing of U.N. observers on both sides of the border to supervise the cease‐fire and to oversee the withdrawal of forces.”

Mr. Shahi's letter made no mention of the 10 million refugees who have streamed from East Pakistan into India this year.

While accepting the resolution's call for a cease‐fire and a withdrawal, it did not address itself to its second operative paragraph. This says the Assembly “urges that efforts be intensified in order to bring about, speedily and in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, conditions necessary for the voluntary return of the East Pakistan refugees to their homes.”

In a speech after the Assembly passed the resolution, by a vote of 104 to 11, Mr. Shahi said Pakistan would not negotiate with “secessionist elements” — that is, the self-proclaimed government of Bangla Desh.

But critics of Pakistan have long contended that it would be impossible to get the refugees to go home unless the Pakistani Government reached some sort of accord with the leaders of Bangla Desh.

No immediate comment on the Shahi letter was made by the United States delegation here. But a delegation spokesman confirmed reports that the chief delegate, George Bush, had met with. Justice Abu Sayeed Chowdhury, ambassador‐designate of Bangla Desh to Britain who has been its chief representative in dealing with United Nations delegations.