J.P. defers visit to Pakistan

Summary

A short news dispatch, filed by the Express News Service from Ahmedabad on 31 January 1963 and printed in the Indian Express of 1 February 1963, reports that Jayaprakash Narayan has again postponed a proposed four-day goodwill visit to Pakistan. He was to have flown from Delhi on the Friday of the week the item ran; the trip is now expected to take place late in March or early April.

Narayan is quoted as explaining that the month of Ramzan would make the visit inconvenient for Pakistani leaders, and that an intimation to this effect had also reached him from Mr. Brohi through his friends in Delhi. The clipping notes that this is the second postponement of the visit — the first was timed to the eve of the announcement of official India–Pakistan talks — and that in the meantime Narayan is continuing a tour of Gujarat, leaving Ahmedabad for North Gujarat, reaching Bhavnagar on 4 February, and flying on to Bombay.

Key points

• Indian Express clipping dated 1 February 1963, filed by Express News Service from Ahmedabad on 31 January.
• Reports that Jayaprakash Narayan has postponed his four-day goodwill visit to Pakistan, which was to have started that Friday from Delhi.
• Stated reason: the month of Ramzan would not be convenient for Ayub Khan and other Pakistani leaders to meet him.
• This is the second postponement; the first coincided with the announcement of official India–Pakistan talks.
• The intimation about Ramzan reportedly also came through Mr. Brohi via Narayan’s Delhi friends.
• The revised visit is expected in late March or early April.
• Narayan is meanwhile touring Gujarat — moving to North Gujarat, reaching Bhavnagar on 4 February, and then flying to Bombay.