780.5/10–2054
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Officer in Charge of Pakistan—Afghanistan Affairs (Thacher)1
Subject:
- Pakistani Views on Negotiations with Afghanistan
Participants:
- Sir Zafrulla Khan, Pakistan Foreign Minister
- Mr. Chaudhri Mohammad Ali, Pakistan Finance Minister
- Mr. Syed Amjad Ali, Ambassador of Pakistan
- NEA—Mr. Byroade
- SOA—Mr. Smith
- Mr. Thacher
In one of the meetings with the Pakistanis held during the Prime Minister’s visit to Washington there was a brief discussion of Pakistan—Afghanistan relations.
[Page 1425]Mr. Byroade said we had informed the Afghans that this was probably not the time for them to join a Middle East alliance. When the latter had grown to the point where it could command respect, then perhaps would be the time for Afghan adherence. He said we had also informed the Afghans that we doubted the wisdom of any military aid agreement providing U.S. military assistance for Afghanistan. We had said that we would, however, be happy to see some moves for closer relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Sir Zafrulla said that in discussions with the Afghans, they had a tendency to cover a wide range of rather disjointed ideas. Recently they had talked about the desirability of the federation of the two countries, expressing their willingness for the moment to drop the Pushtunistan issue. In the Pakistan view, however, it would be better to start with a more modest approach—for example cooperation in some joint economic and scientific programs. Thus excess power produced by the Warsak project in the Northwest Frontier Province might be sent across the border to the Jalalabad area in Afghanistan where it is needed. The Pakistanis believe Afghanistan still requires the stabilizing influence of the royal family, although Atik, the Afghan representative in Karachi, had insisted that the royal family was ready to take whatever risk to their position confederation might involve.
Zafrulla said that Atik had gone about discussing the desirability of confederation but that he had been most annoyed when it got into the press. Edgar Mowrer, the American foreign correspondent, had reported to the Pakistanis that Atik had talked of a Pushtunistan extending up to the Indus River. Later, in discussion with Zafrulla, Atik had insisted that even though the two countries were discussing various possible settlements, this should not be made public and that Pakistan and Afghanistan should continue to maintain a public posture of unfriendliness with exchange of hostile radio propaganda, etc. Zafrulla indicated that the Pakistanis found the Afghan gyrations incomprehensible and a difficult basis on which to make real progress.
Mr. Byroade said that we had been encouraged lately by continuing contacts between the two countries and that he hoped Pakistan would let us know of anything which we might do to bring the two countries closer together.
- Initialed by Byroade, indicating his approval.↩