Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XXV, South Asia

335. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson¹

Washington, May 7, 1966, 9 a.m.

Ambassador Ahmed of Pakistan gave me verbally the following message:

1. President Ayub had not understood in his conversations with you that he had undertaken a personal commitment to reopen the closed facilities.

2. Since this is your understanding, he will now give the matter his urgent personal attention.²

Walt

1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President, Walt M. Rostow, Vol. 2, May 1–15, 1966. Confidential. A handwritten note on the memorandum reads, “Sent by wire to President.”
2. McConaughy met with Ayub on May 5 to discuss Shoaib’s visit to Washington and the Ayub government’s response to the conditions involved in reestablishing U.S. assistance to Pakistan. During the course of the conversation, Ayub took up the issue of the closed installations. He could not recall discussing the issue with Johnson in Washington, and he noted that newspaper leaks in U.S. papers concerning the stations complicated the issue in that the Soviet Union and China were more likely to react to the reopening of the stations. Nonetheless, Ayub said, a Foreign Office draft proposal for reopening would be given to McConaughy for comment within the week. (Telegram 2032 from Karachi, May 6; National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964–66, POL 15–1 PAK)