From Our Correspondent
Delhi, June 18
Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, has agreed with the Indian Government that atrocities must stop in East Bengal before the refugees can be persuaded to return home.

At the same time he pointed out that the United Nations High Commission was concerned mainly with providing for the refugees and not with discussing political aspects of the question.
This was disclosed in a statement which Mr R. K. Khadilkar, the Indian Labour and Rehabilitation Minister, made in Parliament today. He said that the government had informed the Prince that as many as six million refugees had already crossed into India and that the cost of maintaining them for the rest of the year would be about £150m.

Mr Khadilkar said that the refugee problem was the responsibility of the international community. India had admitted the refugees as a trust on behalf of the international community on purely humanitarian grounds as the country next door to East Bengal.

However, the relief received so far from the international community was “quite inadequate”, only about £15m. and needed to be increased immediately.


Our Geneva Correspondent writes:
Even though Indian doctors and nurses working among the East Pakistan refugees are “stretched to the limits” more hospital facilities are needed in the camps, according to a report by Dr Lars Troell of Sweden, who has returned from a two-week visit to West Bengal on behalf of the League of Red Cross Societies.

While the Indian medical staff were “doing a first-class job”, and appeared to be containing outbreaks of cholera, typhoid and typhus, he expressed grave concern at the general health situation.

The league says it is studying how best it can help in the light of Dr Troell’s report. It could easily provide medical volunteers from various countries to take some of the strain off the Indians, but it is confronted with the Indian Government's decision that it cannot use foreign medical staff.

Paris, June 18. —Members of the World Bank’s Aid India Consortium today pledged additional financial assistance to help the Indian Government

A communiqué al the end of a two-day meeting said that in a special session members had heard special reports from Mr Charles Mace, United Nations Assistant High Commissioner, and from India.

Sources said that Mr Mace estimated India's financial need for refugee aid at the end of May at $175m (£73m), of which only about $40m (£16m) had been received. He argued that the need had doubled since then.

Dr I. G. Patel, Indian Economic Affairs Secretary, said that apart from aid for refugees. India will require $1,150m (£460m) of normal assistance in the year to next April.


Washington, June 18. —Senator Edward Kennedy told a press conference today that the United States Government had failed to respond adequately to the East Pakistan refugee crisis and accused the Nixon Administration of ‘‘whitewashing a great human tragedy”.


Calcutta, lune 18. —At least 50 East Pakistan refugees had died of cholera in the last 24 hours. Dr Jainul Abedin, West Bengal Health Minister, said here tonight. Since the beginning of the epidemic in West Bengal there had been 23,407 known cases of cholera of whom 3,506 had died.—Reuter.