Delhi, Nov 12
India’s contingency military plans provide for complete isolation of East and West Pakistan by a naval blockade if war breaks out between the two countries in the near future, well-informed sources revealed today.

This would mean that in the event of hostilities Pakistan ships would have to run a dangerous gauntlet round Indian naval bases situated along the western and eastern coastline if the four and a half Pakistan divisions in the eastern wing were not to be cut off from their only source of supply in the western wing.

In terms of the relative strengths of the two navies it would appear that the Indian Navy is capable of carrying out an effective blockade.

Our Rome Correspondent writes: The danger of famine which has hung over East Pakistan since last year’s cyclone disaster and the civil war has been averted, a Pakistan Government expert said in Rome today.

Mr Mohamed Hussein Sufi, food and agricultural adviser to President Yahya Khan, said that as a result of the fighting and the cyclone, with its “colossal destruction of life and property”, the agricultural situation in East Pakistan was “rather dismal”.

“By the grace of God we have been able to keep the food situation under control and all talk of a disaster on the food front has been proved to be wrong”, he told a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization conference.

Our Bonn Correspondent writes: Mrs Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India, left Bonn for Delhi today after a third day of talks. At a press conference she said she would be ready to meet President Yahya Khan to discuss any issue that concerned India and Pakistan, but added with regard to events on the borders:

“The solution of this question can only be reached with the leading persons of East Bengal. I have no authority to talk about it.”