81. Editorial Note
On September 1, Prime Minister Nehru and President Ayub Khan met in New Delhi to discuss matters of mutual interest to their two countries. During the meeting, they agreed to hold a conference between Indian and Pakistani officials in the near future in order to help prevent incidents along the Pakistani-Indian border. Telegram 736 from New Delhi, September 1, and telegram 589 from Karachi, September 5, reported on the Nehru–Ayub meeting. (Department of State, Central Files, 690D.91/9–159 and 690D.91/9–559) The two leaders issued a joint communiqué at the conclusion of their talk; for text, see Foreign Policy of India: Text of Documents, 1947–64 (New Delhi, 1966), page 364.
The planned cabinet-level conference between representatives of India and Pakistan on border problems met October 15–22 and reached a preliminary agreement. Bartlett made the following comments about the agreement in a memorandum of October 25 to Hart:
“This agreement represents another important milestone toward the complete Indo-Pakistan rapprochement which the leaders of both countries now appear to be actively seeking. Other significant steps in that direction are the current Indus Waters negotiations, the recent trade talks, and the financial negotiations which have been in progress in Karachi on the Secretariat level simultaneous with the border talks.
“While there is actually little that is new in the provisions of this latest border agreement—most of which had been enunciated by earlier border conferences at various levels—the important new element appears to be manifest sincerity, determination and (with particular reference to Pakistan) ability to implement the decisions arrived at.” (Ibid., 690D.913/10–2559)