83. Letter From President Ayub to President Kennedy 0

My Dear President, The forcible taking of Goa by India has demonstrated what we in Pakistan have never had any illusions about—that India would not hesitate to attack if it were in her interest to do so and if she felt that the other side was too weak to resist. Krishna Menon, in fact, blatantly said as much in his statement of the 23rd of December.

The inability of the United Nations to prevent aggression has added to the loss of public confidence in its efficacy.

We had decided to take our Kashmir case to the Security Council after the Indian elections. In view of the recent developments, however, I have come to the conclusion that to re-affirm our continued faith in the United Nations, as the only force which might provide an alternative to naked aggressions of the kind we have just witnessed, it is imperative that the Kashmir question be raised now.

It is not our intention to ask the Council to discuss the substance of the question at this stage. Our Permanent Representative will ask in the first instance for a directive from the Security Council to the United Nations Representative for India and Pakistan, Dr. Frank P. Graham, to set forth his own views of what needs to be done by Pakistan and by India to comply with the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and of the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan. My Government regards this step as an essential preliminary move without which the deadlock in the Kashmir question cannot be broken. We are asking for this step to be taken about the middle of this month.

It is my understanding that a directive of the above kind can be given to Dr. Graham without the adoption of a formal resolution by the Security Council and the attendant risk of a Soviet veto, provided a clear majority of the members of the Security Council express themselves in favour of a directive for the reason that Dr. Graham’s recommendations would enable them to appraise the present status of the case correctly.

The details of this procedure will be explained by Ambassador Zafrulla Khan to your Delegation in New York and by Ambassador Aziz Ahmed to the State Department.

I have been advised that the Presidency of the Security Council in February 1962 will be held by the United States. In view of the crucial role of the President of the Council in the scheme of things that I have mentioned, Pakistan places the utmost reliance on his goodwill and support [Page 171] to surmount the initial procedural difficulties that may be raised by the Soviet Union and Romania in the course of action of the Security Council.

I am confident, Mr. President, that you will appreciate the reasons for my decision and that I may rely on your sympathetic understanding and fullest support.

I cannot end this letter without expressing the gratitude of the people of Pakistan, of their Government and my own sincere appreciation for the consistent and unwavering support that has been extended by the United States Government to Wilsonian principle of self-determination of peoples, whether strong or weak, and for upholding the Purpose and Principles of the Charter of the United Nations in the observance and implementation of which alone rest all our hopes for the future.

With kindest regards, Yrs Sincerely,

M.A. Khan
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 690D.91/1-262. No classification marking. The salutation and closing of the letter are handwritten.