115. Memorandum of a Conversation Between Secretary of State Dulles and Prime Minister Nehru, Prime Minister’s Residence, New Delhi, March 9 and/or 10, 1956, 4 p.m.1
We spoke of the situation in Afghanistan and the possible threat that it might become a Soviet satellite and carry on military activities against Pakistan much as in the Korea or Indochina style claiming to liberate the Pakhtoonistans. Nehru spoke rather sharply and with some evidence of irritation saying that this whole trouble was of the making of the Pakistanis. They had been arbitrary in their relations and had imposed an economic blockade on Afghanistan. It was inevitable that under these circumstances the Afghans should get assistance by or through the Soviet Union or otherwise they would perish. I said that while as a result of incidents there had been a temporary closing of the Pakistan frontier, it had been of only a brief duration and was now all over. Also I said the information we have was that the Soviets were supplying arms as well as economic goods. Nehru said that he had had no information that the frontier had been reopened. (From this and other discussions, I got very clearly the impression that Nehru feels so emotionally about the Pakistanis that he automatically attributes to them the [Page 228] blame for everything that goes wrong in the area. He does not seem to be open to much reason or independent study of the facts where Pakistan is involved.)
- Source: Department of State, Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 64 D 199. Secret. Drafted by Dulles on March 11. The Secretary was in New Delhi as part of his post-SEATO trip to several Asian countries. Additional documentation on this trip is ibid., FE Conference Files: Lot 60 D 514.↩