The Other Celebration

Pakistan, which also won its independence from Britain 20 years ago, was more in a mood for celebration. Though the predominantly Moslem nation of 105 million has, like India, suffered a two-year drought, Pakistan with fewer people to feed, has been hurt far less. And even though Pakistan is still poor and underdeveloped, its economy is healthy and growing. In fact, aided by a 9% increase in the output of its new heavy industries (shipbuilding, petrochemicals), Pakistan's gross national product is expected to rise 5.2% this year. Pakistani exports are doing so well on the world market that the country has nearly cut in half its dependence on outside economic aid.

On a nationwide television program, President Mohammed Ayub Khan, 60, blamed neighboring India for the bad relations between the two countries that cost each of them millions every year in armament outlays. He also scoffed at India's preoccupation with China. "All this fear about China is nonsense," said Ayub, whose country, unlike India, has not suffered Chinese attack. "The Chinese have no intention of getting embroiled in this vast subcontinent with its teeming millions." If the President's pronouncement was correct, it was the happiest message that either Pakistan or India could receive as the two countries enter their third decade of independence.

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