RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Dec. 27—President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto said tonight that he had met with Sheik Mujibur Rahman, the detained leader of East Pakistan's Bengali separatists.

At a reception for foreign diplomats and newsmen, President Bhutto said that he had just come from his first meeting with Sheik Mujib since March 25.

Mr. Bhutto said that while the meeting had “not been an easy step,” it had been necessary and was “something that should have been done a long time ago.”

Speaking of Sheik Mujib as “an elected leader of Pakistan who represents the people of East Pakistan,” the President said:

“He didn't kick me in the teeth nor did I find it necessary to pull a gun. We sat, we talked, and we will continue to talk.”

He said that he could not add anything more about the meeting.

Mr. Bhutto, who was sworn in on Dec. 20 as President and Martial‐Law Administrator in succession to Gen. Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan, said that Sheik Mujib, who was shifted last week from prison to house arrest, was now “free to leave if he wishes.”

But he declined to say where the Bengali leader was, and when asked whether newsmen might be permitted to see him, replied: “Not for the time being.”

Sheik Mujib and his followers won 167 of the 169 National Assembly seats allotted to East Pakistan, in the general election held’ a year ago. But on. March 25 of, this year, the central military regime in West Pakistan imprisoned Sheik Mujib and banned his movement, the Awami League.

Mr. Bhutto, head of the leading party in West Pakistan, came to power in the wave of resentment against President Yahya Khan's conduct of the two‐week war with India, which ended on Dec. 17.

Sheik Mujib is seen more as a pawn in the Government's bargaining for the release of West Pakistani troops being held prisoner in East Pakistan than in terms of actually leading an East Pakistani delegation here.

President Bhutto said that his meeting with Sheik Mujib represented the beginning of a dialogue, but he gave ‐no indication that the Pakistani Government even tacitly accepeted the idea that the province that has been East Pakistan was now in fact an independent state.

He ,described Pakistan as “indivisible” and “one nation” and said that countermeasures would be taken to the continued occupation of East Pakistan by Indian troops.

No Word on Next Meeting

The President declined to say when he planned to meet Sheik Mujib again or to disclose any other details about the Bengali leader's detention.

In the past, he said, he has evaded questions as to whether he would meet Sheik Mujib, but now, he declared, he has “the consent of the Pakistani people.”

“I have now met Sheik Mujib and kept my commitment,” he said.

In other remarks, the President asked his people, and especially the Pakistani press, to “look at our own mistakes” and stop. Criticizing the great powers and the foreign press for problems here.

He said that the suggested moratorium on criticism of foreign powers should extend even to India, and‐repeatedly spoke of the need to ‘reopen dialogues.”

Mr. Bhutto, seemed confident and in good humor as he parried questions and shook hands with hundreds of guests. Among them was the commander of Pakistan's Air Force, Air Marshal Abdul Rahim Khan, who is believed to be one of the country's most influential military leaders.

Earlier in the day Air Marshal Rahim Khan told newsmen that the air force had escaped the purges the Pakistani Army and Navy have undergone “because we didn't commit any major blunders.”

He said that during the brief war with India, 104 Indian planes had been confirmed as destroyed and 20 as damaged.

Referring to President Bhutto's announcement two days ago that a special commission would study the causes of Pakistan military “debacle,” Air Marshal Rahim Khan said:

“Such an investigation seems to be demanded by the public. Of course, judges alone will not be in a position to decide on military matters. I saw the President today about including military representatives on the commission.”

Some 20 senior commanders of the army and navy have been retired from service during the last week but none has been retired from the air force. Air Marshal Rahim Khan, who now holds the highest military rank in Pakistan, said he did not expect any would be.

Soviet Air Role Charged

The air force commander told newsmen there was evidence that Russians had actually flown on the enemy side during the recent conflict. He said that high‐altitude radar surveillance planes known as “Spiders,” comparable with the American B‐57F, had been flying over India, giving important assistance to the Indian Air Force.

“We know that the Indians did not have those planes be fore the war and we also know it takes more time than they had to train Indian crews in such sophisticated aircraft,” the air marshal said. “So the crews must have been Russian,” he declared.

“If the Indians had lacked those planes, we could have shot down at least 10 more of their bombers,” Air Marshal Rahim Khan observed.

He said Pakistani planes had been fired on “four or five times” by Soviet‐built SAM‐2 and SAM‐3 missiles.

Another new weapon the Pakistanis encountered, he said, was the “digger bomb” — a rocket used by the Indians to burrow into roads and airport runways, destroying large sections with each blast.

He said there were indications, including personal letters he himself had received, that the Pakistani people were disappointed that heavy attacks had not been made against India's civilian population.

As a matter of fact, he said, Indian authorities “played down their civilian casualties to avoid creating alarm.”