241. Memorandum From the President’s Deputy Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Komer) to President Johnson 1
Pak/Indian Roundup. While the two sides are still glaring at each other and sticking to rigid propaganda positions, there is considerable movement behind the scene.
There are many signs that the Paks are finally hoisting aboard that they have gotten themselves into a pretty mess, and that if hostilities resumed they’d take a licking. As a result they are now more eager for a withdrawal than for simultaneous talks on settling Kashmir.
This has also led to increasing Pak eagerness to get back in our good graces. Now Shoaib as well as Bhutto are signaling that Ayub is eager to come here soon; indeed Shoaib says Ayub now realizes that a considerable shift in Pak policy will be necessary to get back on a firm footing with us. We even have a report that Ayub intends to sack Bhutto in time.
So the Paks are moving our way. If we sit tight, Ayub should be ready to hear sweet reason within another month or two. However, the Paks are still threatening to move toward the ChiComs (and have leaked that Peiping has offered a tank factory). They also are still hinting that we must give Ayub something first, so he doesn’t have to come here as a beggar.
The Indians, who regard themselves as victors, show less flexibility. Knowing they have the upper hand, they’ve been scaring the Paks with threats to reopen the war if Pakistan won’t lay off Kashmir.
Meanwhile, they are refusing to even discuss Kashmir in New York on the grounds that the issue is closed. Their private and public utterances still indicate acute suspicion that the US and UK are trying to pressure them into giving up the fruits of victory. My own reading is that this mood will last until Shastri can hear from you personally where we stand. According to recent envoys, he’s still eager to come around 10 December.
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President, McGeorge Bundy, Vol. 16, Oct. 15–Nov. 19, 1965. Secret.↩