142. Letter From President Carter to Indian Prime Minister Desai1
We have just finished an excellent series of talks with Foreign Minister Vajpayee2 and I hope that he found them as useful as we did. These high-level exchanges are a very helpful way of supplementing our correspondence and it is always a particular pleasure to hear first-hand news of you. As I told Mr. Vajpayee, our friendship is extremely important to me. I was also glad to receive your letter which he brought along.3 Most of the issues raised in it, and in your earlier letter of March 24,4 were covered in the talks, but I would like to elaborate on a few points that are, I believe, of special importance to both of us.
Your Foreign Minister and I discussed the Tarapur and nuclear safeguards issues frankly and, I think, usefully. I would only like to reiterate my belief that India’s decision will be of immense importance for the future of our world and for the role that India will be able to play in shaping that future.
We also discussed at some length the problems posed by Pakistan’s nuclear program. I am doing everything I can to avert this further danger to our shared goal of non-proliferation. I am concerned, as you are, about the implications that a Pakistani nuclear capability could have for the Middle East. It would be mistaken, however, to think that the motivation for Pakistan’s nuclear program lies outside South Asia. That is why I hope you and Pakistan, working directly together, can find a solution to this extremely serious problem.
I was particularly glad to hear that you are thinking of reextending your invitation to General Zia to visit Delhi. I am ready to help in any way that I can and look forward to a continuing exchange of ideas on this issue.
You mentioned certain alleged incidents of diversion of nuclear materials. As I wrote to you last May 8,5 these are allegations based on speculative newspaper stories. I believe the best way to put this matter to rest would be to engage in serious discussions at the technical level. As I mentioned before, we would be willing to do so. I certainly [Page 386] agree with you, of course, that the problem of misuse of nuclear materials is one that has to be guarded against carefully. That is precisely why the United States is so concerned with this subject and so active in promoting it internationally.
Let me touch briefly on two other issues, supplementing my conversation with Foreign Minister Vajpayee. First of all, as I told him, the United States has no intention of creating new military arrangements in West Asia. We have no desire to intervene in the affairs of the region or to see an escalation in the military presence of major powers. The countries of the area can and should work out their own problems through their own internal procedures. We cannot be indifferent, however, when anyone supports actions which intrude upon the ability of their neighbors to resolve their own problems or when they attempt to impose outside military solutions on those countries. I am sure you would be equally concerned over such actions.
Second, I fully share your view that Vietnam is important to peace and stability in Southeast Asia and that the process of bridge-building among the nations of that region should resume. Vietnam’s use of its military preponderance to impose and sustain a government of its own choosing upon another state has, however, rekindled old fears and set back the process of reconciliation. Certainly it has had a profoundly negative impact on the movement toward normalization with Vietnam which my Administration had been pursuing since early 1977.
India and the United States share common objectives for Southeast Asia even though our differing historical experiences lead us to emphasize different aspects of the problem. We must work together to mobilize international concern that can bring China, Vietnam and the USSR to act in ways that promise a future to Southeast Asia that is free from the threat of war and of external involvement. The most pressing problem is Kampuchea and I am glad that Secretary Vance and Foreign Minister Vajpayee were able to discuss in some detail means of establishing a genuinely independent and neutral government there which reflects the aspirations of the Khmer people and respects their rights. Early recognition by India of the Vietnam-imposed regime would in my view reduce the chances of such an outcome.
Thank you again for your letters and for sparing Foreign Minister Vajpayee to come here and meet with us. I derived from that encounter the same kind of satisfaction that I drew from our meetings last year—that our two countries share a deep understanding and are working toward the same goals. I can think of no better guarantee for a peaceful and hopeful world.
Sincerely,
- Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P880122–0659. Secret; Exdis.↩
- See Documents 138–140.↩
- See footnote 2, Document 139.↩
- See footnote 7, Document 133.↩
- See Document 102.↩