204. Editorial Note
On September 15, 1965, President Ayub sent a letter to President Johnson explaining Pakistan’s response to the cease-fire proposal made to India and Pakistan by UN Secretary-General U Thant on September 12. Thant’s proposal called for a UN-supervised cease-fire to take effect on September 14. Thant asserted that the Security Council would then explore, as a matter of urgency, means and methods of achieving an enduring peace between India and Pakistan. Ayub explained in his letter to Johnson that Pakistan did not oppose a cease-fire. But he argued that a cease-fire that did not provide for a self-executing arrangement for a final settlement of the Kashmir dispute would merely re-establish an unacceptable status quo, and would have the effect of rewarding Indian aggression. (National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964–66, POL 27 INDIA–PAK) Accordingly, Pakistan rejected the cease-fire proposal on September 15. (Telegram 72 from Rawalpindi, September 15; ibid.)
In a press conference for foreign correspondents on September 15, Ayub called on President Johnson to bring the influence of the United States to bear on the conflict to bring it to a halt. (Telegram 69 from Rawalpindi, September 15; Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, India, Agenda Points, September 17, 1965)
India responded to the Secretary-General’s cease-fire proposal on September 14. The Indian response, in the form of a letter from Shastri to Thant, constituted a qualified acceptance of the cease-fire proposal. India was prepared to accept the proposal as put forward by U Thant, but only if it was amended to deal with the problem of armed infiltrators into Kashmir. India alleged that Pakistan had triggered the crisis by training and introducing infiltrators into Kashmir, and Shastri’s letter stated that any cease-fire that did not mandate the removal of all such infiltrators and provide for India to deal with any subsequent infiltrators, would not settle the crisis and would not be acceptable. (Telegram 643 from New Delhi, September 15; National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964–66, POL 27 INDIA–PAK)