dated May 23, 1950: P.M. meets the press

At his monthly Press Conference in New Delhi on the 22nd, the Prime Minister, Pandit Nehru, categorically denied that American or other foreign pressure had led to the Indo-Pakistan Agreement. He said, ``There has not been even a hint of such pressure. Of course, America has been interested in the agreement. But that is a different matter.'' On the working of the Pact, he would adopt ``a tone of restrained optimism.'' As an immediate consequence, the agreement had produced great relief from tension, fear, and foreboding of catastrophe. The Prime Minister said he could roughly describe progress as nil in discussions with the French and Portuguese Governments regarding their settlements in India.

As regards the fleeing of Hindus from East Pakistan, the Prime Minister said a sudden stopping of the exodus could not be expected. A new feature was that some of the minorities were returning to their homes. ``It is significant that the number of Hindus coming from East Bengal to West Bengal is also progressively declining,'' he pointed out.

The Prime Minister was asked about a Cabinet reshuffle that had taken place, and whether he intended to give up the External Affairs portfolio. He replied that he had been proposing to do so for some while, but did not see the change as likely in the near future. He admitted that he had persuaded Mr. C. Rajagopalachari to join the Union Cabinet, and added: ``We look upon Rajaji not only as an elder statesman but as one of India's topmost elder statesmen possessing a great deal of ripe wisdom...''

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