WASHINGTON: President Nixon welcomed Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to the White House Tuesday [Sept 18] and told him the independence and integrity of Pakistan is the cornerstone of American foreign policy. In response, Mr Bhutto (clad in his white People`s Party uniform) told Mr Nixon: `We know you are well acquainted with our problems. Some have said that recently your policy tilted towards Pakistan. Mr President, that was a tilt for justice and a tilt for equity.

Both the President and the Prime Minister were referring ... to the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war. ... In his remarks ... President Nixon said: our hearts have gone out to you in difficult times ... You deserve the congratulations of the whole world for the way you have guided your country in the days after the devastating war. ...

In his reply, Prime Minister Bhutto said he was `overwhelmed by the sentiments expressed by President Nixon and by the heart-warming welcome that he has received in the United States.` News agencies