The External Affairs Minister, Mr. Swaran Singh, told the Lok Sabha that the recent speeches of Pakistan Prime Minister, Mr. Bhutto, during his visit to occupied Kashmir were not in accordance with the letter and spirit of the Simla agreement. However, he did not see how these speeches could interfere with the repatriation now in progress under the Delhi agreement. So long as they were not in keeping with the Simla agreement, he would urge members to ignore them. He said India had asked Mr. Bhutto to desist from making such speeches.

Answering questions, the Minister said the pace of repatriation had somewhat slowed down because of delays in Pakistan clearing its nationals in Bangladesh.

Some of the 13,000 odd Pakistan POWs repatriated so far were not inclined to return to their country, the Lok Sabha was informed today in a written answer. This revealing information was given by the Defence Minister, Mr. Jagjivan ram, in reply to Mr. Shankar Dayal Singh and Mr. Hukamchand Kachwai, while reviewing the progress of repatriation under the Delhi Agreement.