74 ংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খন্ড In considering how we can help and what we can do, I shall touch, first, on the problems now facing India, and then turn to the general question of aid to Pakistan and the degree of pressure, if any, which would be brought to bear upon Pakistan. India has asked that the United Nations take full responsibility for the financial burden of the refugees now in West Bengal and the other states near the border. I am sure that she is right to do that. I am glad to hear from the Minister that teams are now there, both from our own charity organizations and from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Can the Right Hon. Gentleman say how quickly they are expected to report? I ask that because delay could very much add to the seriousness of the problem which the Indians are having to meet. Mr. Khadilkar, the Indian Rehabilitation Minister, has already said that refugees are pouring in at the rate of 70,000 a day, that two million refugees are there already, that £5Yi million has been spent and that the bill may well move up to £ 25 million a month. That is what he is quoted as saying. A relevant point which arises on this is to intensify the need to promote a disaster agency at the United Nations. I was glad to see what has been submitted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary to the United Nations about this, because when situations such as this arise one realizes that delay is so harmful to people and that absolutely ready organisation and finance are needed. I would mention one further point concerning India. All those of us who know Calcutta and its problems will have been aghast to discover that some of the refugees now crowding in from East Pakistan are already within 40 miles of Calcutta. The prospect of any more thousands of refugees from East Bengal crowding the already tragically overcrowded areas of Calcutta is unthinkable. This both lends added urgency to the question of helping the Indians with the refugees and brings again to the limelight the need for long-term international planning on the future of Calcutta and what international help can be given to India in this direction. To turn to the whole question of the economic position in Pakistan, what cannot be over-emphasized is the highly critical nature of the Pakistan economy. This is a relevant factor in terms of the kind of discussion that we have had this afternoon. As we know, a key factor in the Pakistani crisis is that of foreign exchange. There have been rumors and there has been discussion of possible devaluation. We are aware that the problem of foreign exchange has been greatly intensified by the disruption of the economy in East Pakistan during the last two months. We are told that the decline in the reserves probably amounts to 575 million rupees between last July and February this year compared with only about 145 million rupees in the same period of the previous year. This is an extremely steep decline. It is in that situation that the world Bank is today reported in The Times to be facing what The Times calls. "perhaps the most serious crisis in its history over loans to Pakistan, where the central Government is trying to reassert its authority in East Bengal." The World Bank is in the great difficulty whether to continue to disburse money and to agree to a rescheduling of debts,
