103. Letter From President Johnson to the Shah of Iran1
Your Imperial Majesty:
I greatly appreciate your recent letter on the conflict between India and Pakistan,2 and welcome its words of wisdom. I am wholly in agreement with you that the resolution of the Security Council obliges all of us to seek a settlement of the underlying political problems that divide those two great nations.
The firm policy of the United States Government is to search for a peaceful settlement between the two countries through the United Nations which is the instrument we have agreed should act in these matters. We stand ready to lend our best efforts through the Security Council to assist as we can. As you and I are well aware, this task will not be easy. The issues between India and Pakistan have resisted solution for some [Page 183] eighteen years already, and I hope that the recent fighting has not made them harder rather than easier to resolve.
I am aware of and admire the statesmanlike roles played by Your Majesty, Prime Minister Hoveyda, and Ambassador Ansary in support of the successful efforts of the United Nations to achieve a cease-fire. Your thoughts on how we can move forward to lasting peace as relayed by Ambassador Meyer have been interesting and useful. It is clear to us that as the United Nations seeks solution to the problem, Iran can provide constructive support by encouraging and strengthening Pakistan’s ties to the Free World.
Because of our deep mutual interest in a stable subcontinent, I look forward to continued close consultations and exchanges of views with you as India and Pakistan seek, with the help of the United Nations, a solution to the troubles which have plagued them for so long.
Sincerely yours,
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Special Head of State Correspondence File, Iran—Presidential Correspondence. Confidential. Sent to the President for signature under an October 5 memorandum from Komer calling it a “friendly but carefully non-committal reply” to an attached message from the Shah appealing for U.S. support in getting a Kashmir settlement. (Ibid., Memos to the President, McGeorge Bundy, Vol. 15)↩
- The text of the message, sent by telegram, was delivered to the Department of State with a September 27 covering letter from Ambassador Khosrovani to Assistant Secretary Hare. (Ibid., Special Head of State Correspondence File, Iran—Presidential Correspondence)↩